Family Life
by cleotheo
Summary: Thirty snippets of Hermione and Draco's family life with their son and daughter. Dramione Family fluff.
1. Scorpius

**A/N – Family Life is a series of 30 snippets about Draco, Hermione and their two children – Scorpius and Lyra. The snippets are set chronologically and are set in the same universe, but it's not really a proper story. It's just snippets of their life as a family beginning with Scorpius entering the world and ending with Lyra moving out and leaving her parents alone again. The collection is very light and fluffy.**

 **This is set with no war and no animosity between the two sets of friends. Over the course of the story all of Hermione and Draco's friends will feature at various times as well as their children. Just to keep people straight, here's a quick rundown of who's with who and who their children are.**

 **Harry and Ginny are together, and they have three children. James, Albus and Lily. Ron and Lavender have Rose and Hugo. Theo and Pansy have two daughters, Faith and Angelica. And finally, Blaise and Daphne have a son, Alex.**

 **Each snippet is between 800-1,000 words, with a couple of exceptions. Updates will be Tuesdays and Thursdays, but there might also be an odd chapter posted on other weekdays or sometimes over the weekend depending on how much time I have.**

* * *

 **Scorpius.**

It was well past midnight and Hermione Malfoy was wide awake. Not wanting to keep her husband, Draco, awake she quietly slipped out of bed and made her way into the nursery. Staring down into the cot, she felt a burst of pure love as she looked down at the reason she couldn't sleep, her new-born son, Scorpius. Hermione and Draco had brought Scorpius home from the hospital earlier that day, and even though the baby had been no bother, Hermione was still nervous about her new role as a mother.

All her life, Hermione had fully prepared for every endeavour she'd ever embarked on. Before she's started Hogwarts, Hermione had read all her books so she was fully prepared for her time at school and she'd done the exact same thing every year after that. There wasn't a lesson she attended where she hadn't been fully prepared. Her life after school had been approached in very much the same way, she'd considered her career carefully before embarking on training to become a lawyer, specialising in fighting for the rights of magical creatures and the underprivileged.

She'd even thought long and hard before embarking on a romance with Draco. Even though she knew he had changed since their school days, she still considered things carefully before agreeing to go out on a date with him. Even her pregnancy had been thoroughly researched, she'd read every pregnancy book she could get her hands on and attended every single antenatal class she could so she was prepared for the birth itself.

However, there wasn't really a solid set of rules to bringing up a child and she was nervous she would mess things up. Hermione had read several childcare books in the latter stages of her pregnancy and she often found different books gave contradicting advice. She was smart enough to know that each child was different, and what would work with one wouldn't work with another. The children of her best friends, were proof of how different children could be and how different the experience of parenthood could be.

Both Harry and Ron had become fathers for the first time a little over two years ago. Harry and Ron had both being thrilled to have children, as were their wives Ginny and Lavender. However, the first few months of parenthood differed vastly for the two couples. Ginny and Harry's little boy, James, was the sweetest little baby ever and he never made a fuss. Unfortunately things weren't as easy for Ron and Lavender. Their daughter, Rose, had been a handful from the very beginning and Lavender had suffered from post-natal depression. The first year of parenthood for both of the couples had been vastly different, with Ginny and Harry finding things much easier than Ron and Lavender. Luckily, things were much better for Ron and Lavender now and they were even talking about having more children soon.

Although luckily, Hermione also felt slightly better about becoming a mother knowing her closest female friend, Daphne Zabini, was going through the exact same thing. Daphne had given birth to her and Blaise's son, Alex, mere days before Hermione had gone into labour. The two witches had gone through their pregnancies side by side, and Hermione was drawing confidence from the fact they would go through motherhood the same way. They would be able to lean on each other for support and their boys would grow up side by side.

"I hope I don't let you down, Scorpius," Hermione whispered quietly, gently stroking the top of her son's head. While she could compare notes with Daphne at other times and alleviate her worries, it was hard to do in the middle of the night.

"You won't," A voice from behind her said quietly.

Turning her head, Hermione found Draco standing in the doorway of the nursery. Her husband looked half asleep and she felt bad that she'd woken him yet again. For the last few weeks she hadn't had a full night's sleep as the worry about becoming a mother had begun to play on her mind. Unfortunately, Draco seemed to sense when she wasn't in bed with him and he would get up looking for her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," Hermione said as Draco crossed the room and peered down at his sleeping son.

"Hermione, you should be sleeping when Scorpius does," Draco said gently. "He'll wake us up often enough without getting up when there's no need."

"Sorry, I just couldn't sleep," Hermione replied with a sigh. "I just keep thinking I'm going to mess this up. You know what I'm like, I like to have the answers before I do anything. Raising children isn't like that."

"Hermione, you don't need a manual to be a mother," Draco said gently. "You're a natural with Scorpius. Just follow your instincts and you'll be fine. You're going to be a great mother, I just know it."

"I hope so," Hermione replied with a small smile.

"I know so," Draco insisted. "Now stop worrying and come back to bed. I'm sure Scorpius will wake up soon for a feed, and it would be nice to have some sleep tonight."

Taking a final look at their sleeping son, Hermione let Draco lead her from the nursery and into their bedroom. Settling down in their bed, Hermione settled herself in Draco's arms and tried to get some sleep before Scorpius woke up and needed feeding.

"Sleep Hermione," Draco muttered, already half asleep again.

Following her husband's advice, Hermione closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Scorpius woke up three times during the night, and every time she got up to deal with him, Hermione felt her confidence as a mother grow. By morning her doubts were much less significant and within a week she wasn't as worried about her lack of knowledge with being a mother. She knew she would be fine as long as she had Draco at her side and luckily for Hermione, her husband wasn't going anywhere. He would be with her as their raised their son, and possibly other children in the future.


	2. First Christmas

**First Christmas.**

When Hermione popped to Diagon Alley to pick up a few bits and pieces, she was rather surprised to find the street decorated for Christmas and the shops preparing for the festive season. It was only as she did her shopping that she realised it was the first of December. For the last few months, she'd been so wrapped up in becoming a mother that she'd forgotten all about Christmas. The big day was in a matter of weeks, and she hadn't given it a second thought.

Returning home, Hermione had informed Draco that it was time to start preparing the perfect first Christmas for their son. Draco argued that Scorpius was only a few months old, therefore wouldn't remember his first Christmas, but Hermione was insistent that the holiday was going to be perfect.

Within a couple of days, Hermione had drawn up several lists of things that needed doing. She'd also decided that Christmas Day itself would be spent at home, just her, Draco and Scorpius. They could visit friends and family on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day, but the actual day would be purely the three of them.

The first thing Hermione did was buy a large tree to stand in the front room. As she decorated the tree, she put on some Christmas music and settled Scorpius in his bouncy chair. Scorpius was entranced by the festive coloured baubles and tinsel that Hermione hung on the tree. As well as decorating the tree, Hermione also hung decorations elsewhere in the front room, as well as decorating the hallway and stairs.

"Do you not think this is a bit much?" Draco asked when he returned home and saw his wife's handiwork.

"No, I think it's just right," Hermione replied.

Knowing better than to argue with his wife, Draco sat back and let Hermione carry on with planning the perfect Christmas. After decorations came presents, and after a couple of shopping trips there was dozens of neatly wrapped gifts under the tree. Hermione had naturally focused on Scorpius and buying gifts for him, but there were a few presents under the tree for her husband. And of course, Draco had a few presents for Hermione as well.

As Christmas day crept closer, Hermione started to plan Christmas lunch and started to stock up with food. She also spent a few afternoons in the kitchen baking mince pies, biscuits and other Christmas goodies. While Draco questioned the decorations, he certainly didn't question the extra baking his wife was doing. He was more than happy to come home to the smell of fresh baking and goodies to nibble on as he had a cuppa.

With less than a week to go until Christmas, Hermione had everything sorted. All her presents were wrapped and nestled under the tree, she had all her food shopping in and a schedule to make sure she created the perfect Christmas lunch. With nothing else to sort, she devoted her time to sharing her childhood Christmas memories with her husband and son.

The first thing Hermione did was take Draco and Scorpius into the muggle world, so they could pay a visit to Santa. Draco was unsure of the whole concept of visiting a stranger posing as Father Christmas, but he had to admit the children loved the experience. All the children waiting to see Santa were excited and they left the grotto thrilled to have spoken to him and to have received a small present and a picture. Draco was further convinced that visiting Santa wasn't such a bad idea when they got a gorgeous picture of Scorpius on Santa's knee. Hermione also shared a few more of her childhood traditions, including attending a carol service at the nearby church.

By Christmas Eve, Draco was just as invested in providing Scorpius with the perfect Christmas. After visiting their friends on the morning, the family returned home and Draco disconnected the floo network. They were going to spend a quiet Christmas Eve as a family, before enjoying the big day itself. Then on Boxing Day, they would visit their families.

Once Scorpius was in bed for the night, freshly kitted out in his new Christmas pyjamas, Hermione and Draco finally got some time alone.

"You know, I think you had the right idea about Christmas," Draco said to his wife. "Scorpius might not be able to remember this when he's older, but we will. We'll always know we did everything we could to give him the perfect first Christmas."

"He might not be able to remember this Christmas, but he will be able to remember others," Hermione said. "I think we should do things like this every year. Let's make every Christmas a one to remember."

"And let's always celebrate them in private as a family," Draco added.

Hermione wholeheartedly agreed with her husband, especially since their Christmas turned out to be such a good one. On Christmas morning, Hermione and Draco opened presents for Scorpius, showering the little boy with toys and clothes. Hermione picked a cute little reindeer outfit for Scorpius to wear, and he spent the entire day looking absolutely adorable. With her timetable already sorted, Hermione produced a gorgeous Christmas Lunch. Of course Scorpius was too little to actually eat anything, but both Draco and Hermione enjoyed the food on offer.

As well as opening presents and enjoying a good meal, the pair just enjoyed spending time with Scorpius. They spent the day doting on their son, and by bedtime they were both exhausted. Although they did have enough energy to have a private celebration, before falling asleep in each other's arms. They'd definitely started a tradition, and future Christmases would run virtually the same, with time as a family being their main priority.


	3. Unexpected News

**Unexpected News.**

Standing in the doorway of her son's room, Hermione watched as Draco tucked Scorpius into bed and settled down to read him his bedtime story. Watching the two most important people in her life, Hermione couldn't help but smile. She loved her family, and wouldn't change them for anything. Absentmindedly, her hand settled on her stomach as she watched her husband and son.

"I didn't realise you were there," Draco whispered when he finished with Scorpius and turned round to find his wife watching him.

"I just couldn't resist," Hermione replied. "You're so cute together."

"How many time do I have to tell you, Malfoys aren't cute," Draco protested, pulling Hermione into his arms the second they were free of their son's room. "Malfoys are devastatingly handsome, and oh so sexy."

"Not to mention cocky," Hermione retorted.

"I'm not cocky, I'm merely stating the truth," Draco replied. "Or do you not think I'm handsome and sexy?"

"You're not bad, I guess," Hermione said with a sly smile.

"Not bad?" Draco faked outrage as he pouted at his wife. "I'll show you not bad."

Despite wanting to talk to Draco, Hermione let her husband drag her off to the bedroom. Ten minutes later thoughts of talking went clean out of her head as she lost herself to Draco's touch. It was actually much later, when she was lying naked in her husband's arms that Hermione remembered that she'd been meaning to talk with Draco.

"Draco, there's something I've got to tell you," Hermione said. Sitting up, she pulled the covers over her chest so that Draco wouldn't get distracted by her breasts.

"This doesn't sound good," Draco muttered. "Is it bad news?"

"It's unexpected news," Hermione replied. "I'm pregnant."

"Pregnant," Draco repeated. "I know I'm good, but there's no way of knowing that I've just gotten you pregnant."

"I didn't mean you've just done it right now," Hermione replied, rolling her eyes. "I'm a little over three weeks along."

"Wow," Draco whispered quietly. "We're having another baby."

"Yes."

Hermione watched Draco carefully, trying to work out whether her husband was happy or not. When she'd told him about Scorpius, he'd sat silently for almost ten minutes, before sweeping her up in his arms and making love to her right in the middle of the front room. Hermione supposed if his reaction was the same than at least they were in a better place. At least no-one would disturb them, like Harry and Ron had when they were celebrating her first pregnancy.

"Are you pleased?" Draco finally asked, turning to look at his wife.

"I think I am," Hermione replied with a nod. "I'm totally shocked since this isn't planned, but I'm also happy. We always wanted to extend our family."

"I suppose it really shouldn't come as that much of a shock," Draco mused. "We're not always very careful with the contraceptive charms. Just now's a perfect example, I'm sure we forget to cast it."

"We did," Hermione confirmed. "But since I'm already pregnant, it doesn't really matter. So, are you pleased about the baby? You're going to be a Daddy again."

A slow grin lit up Draco's face as he digested the news. "I'm going to like that," He announced. "I hope it's a girl."

"Why?" Hermione asked. "I thought you loved having a son."

"I do," Draco replied. "Scorpius is an almost perfect replica of me. I would like a little version of you. Imagine a little bushy haired bookworm running around the place."

"Please do not wish my hair on our future child," Hermione said with a grimace. These days her hair was a lot tamer, although she spent much more time and effort on it now than she had ever done as a child, but she still didn't want to inflict her wild curls onto her child.

"Your hair was cute," Draco said with a chuckle.

"My hair was a mess," Hermione retorted. "And you did not think it was cute. You were always making fun of my hair."

Draco winced as memories of their youth flooded through him. "Sorry, I was a git. But once I got over that, I loved your hair. I still do."

"It is better these days, but I still wouldn't wish my wild hair on our children," Hermione said. "That would be liking hoping Scorpius wears too much gel in his hair when he's older, like you used to. It's just not something you should wish on your children."

"I didn't wear too much gel," Draco pouted.

"Yes, you did," Hermione replied, laughing at the memories. "You look so much better now you don't use any gel."

"To tell you the truth, I got sick of the gel," Draco confessed. "I was going through several tubes a year, and it took me nearly half an hour to get ready in the mornings."

"So what did you do, find some other way to take an age to get ready?" Hermione questioned. "You're never dressed in half an hour. Most of the time you take longer than me to get dressed."

"A man has to look his best," Draco replied with a grin. "Although this conversation has gone wildly off track. We were talking about babies."

"How do you think Scorpius will deal with having a sibling?" Hermione questioned, biting her lower lip nervously. "Neither of us have experience with siblings, so we're not going to be in much of a position to help him adjust."

"Luckily for us, you happen to know a family that knows all about siblings," Draco said. "I'm sure we can get advice from the Weasleys. Damn, there's a line I never thought I'd hear myself say."

Hermione chuckled at Draco and his grumblings. He actually got on perfectly well with the family of redheads, and she knew his complaints weren't malicious.

"Your mother has sisters, she might be able to help as well," Hermione pointed out.

"Mother was the baby of the family," Draco replied. "She was spoilt rotten. Having siblings was something she never had to adjust to, they were already there when she was born."

"I'm sure we'll work it out nearer the time," Hermione said. Smiling at Draco, she let the sheet fall from her chest, instantly gaining Draco's undivided attention. "What do you say, we celebrate our news by recreating how we ended up pregnant."

"Okay," Draco answered with a grin. "But if the baby was conceived a little over three weeks ago, we need whipped cream and handcuffs to get an accurate recreation."

"I think we can skip the added extras," Hermione laughed, pulling Draco on top of her. "It's perfect as we are, just the two of us."

"Make that three of us," Draco said, gently rubbing his hand over Hermione's still flat stomach.

Hermione smiled up at Draco, before connecting their lips in a sweet kiss. Before long the sweetness in the kiss gave way to full on passion as the couple celebrated their unexpected news. A second child may not have been what they'd been expecting at the moment, but they were thrilled to be adding to their family.


	4. Scorpius's First Broom

**Scorpius's First Broom.**

"I'm really not sure about this, Draco," Hermione said nervously. Much to her displeasure she and Draco were in the quidditch shop in Diagon Alley, looking at children's brooms. "Does Scorpius really have to have a proper broomstick? Isn't his toy one good enough?"

"The toy ones are only okay for younger children," Draco argued as he continued to browse the selection of children's brooms. "Scorpius is old enough to learn to fly properly."

"But he's not even three," Hermione argued.

"The younger you learn the better you become," Draco replied. "All the top quidditch players started flying at a very young age."

"Who's to say Scorpius will be a top quidditch player?" Hermione retorted. "If I have my way, he won't play quidditch at all. It's a dangerous game."

"You can't ban him from playing quidditch," Draco said in outrage, turning to face his pregnant wife. "Every young wizard dreams of playing quidditch."

Shaking her head, Hermione placed her hand on her growing stomach. "Let's hope you don't want to play quidditch," She muttered to the bump.

Knowing it was pointless to argue with Draco over buying the broom, Hermione wandered off to look at other things. Even though quidditch held no interest for her, she could often buy some good presents in the shop. Not only was Draco quidditch mad, but her best friends also loved the sport. It really was the best place to stock up on her shopping for birthdays and Christmases.

Half an hour later, Draco had found the perfect broom for Scorpius and Hermione had a basketful of things she was going to put away to use as presents for people. Paying for their items the couple exited the shop, and after finishing their shopping, they headed home to where Narcissa had been babysitting Scorpius. While Hermione headed into the front room to check on Narcissa and Scorpius, Draco took the bags upstairs.

"Thank you so much for looking after Scorp," Hermione said to Narcissa.

"It's my pleasure," Narcissa replied with a smile.

"Has he behaved himself?" Hermione checked. Scorpius was currently sitting on the sofa playing with a couple of his toy dragons, but Hermione knew he wasn't always as well behaved.

"He's been perfect," Narcissa said. "We've been playing dragons. I hope you don't mind, but I had a new one I gave to him."

"I don't mind," Hermione reassured her mother-in-law. She would have been more surprised if Narcissa had turned up without any sort of treats for her grandson.

"He's building up quite a collection," Narcissa said. She'd actually been surprised by the size tub of dragon toys her grandson owned.

"He loves dragons," Hermione answered.

"Draco was the same," Narcissa said fondly. "Anything to do with dragons and he was happy. That and flying."

"Don't mention flying," Hermione said with a sigh. "Draco insisted on buying Scorpius a new broom today. Apparently, he's going to teach him to fly this afternoon."

"I remember when Lucius first taught Draco how to fly," Narcissa reminisced with a small shudder. "I was a bag of nerves. I was convinced that Draco was going to end up seriously hurt."

"Did he ever hurt himself?" Hermione asked, her eyes lingering on her little son.

"Nothing serious," Narcissa replied. "To be honest he ended up in worse scrapes with his feet on the ground. You shouldn't worry Hermione, Draco won't let anything happen to Scorpius. At this age, he won't be flying on his own anyway."

"I know Draco won't let anything happen to him," Hermione admitted. "I'm just naturally nervous when it comes to flying."

"Why don't I stay and we can watch the lesson together," Narcissa suggested. "I bet you any money that Scorpius loves it."

Of course Narcissa was right, Scorpius was thrilled when Draco took him outside and presented him with his first proper broomstick. Having Narcissa with her helped Hermione to keep slightly calmer, but she was still a bag of nerves the first time her son settled himself on his broom. Luckily, it only hovered a few feet above the ground and Draco never left Scorpius's side.

"See, he's having fun," Narcissa said, smiling at the sight of Scorpius giggling happily as Draco showed him the basics of riding a broom.

"Yeah, I guess he is," Hermione admitted with a defeated sigh. It was obvious that Scorpius was going to love flying, and she didn't have the heart to stop him doing something he so obviously enjoyed.

In the end, Draco and Scorpius spent nearly three hours in the back garden with the new broom. Hermione and Narcissa watched for an hour, before heading indoors and turning their focus to the baby Hermione was due to have in a few months' time. When Draco and Scorpius did re-enter the house, Scorpius was beaming happily and he excitedly relayed his afternoons' activities to his mother and grandmother.

"He loved it," Draco said to Hermione as he settled down next to his wife. "He's going to be a natural. He'll be flying unsupervised before you know it."

"Not too soon," Hermione warned. "He's still a baby, Draco."

"A baby who's growing up fast," Draco remarked. "Before we know it, he'll be flying on his own and heading off to school."

"Don't say that," Hermione cried. "Let me just enjoy having him as my little boy for a while longer."

Planting a kiss on the top of Hermione's head, Draco settled back and listened to his son chatter on excitedly about his new broom. Seeing the joy on his son's face as he flew for the first time, reiterated that he'd made the right decision about buying Scorpius a proper broomstick. His son was going to be a whiz on a broom, and he couldn't wait to see him in action when he was older. But for now he was more than happy to enjoy teaching Scorpius the basics of handling a broomstick. They were going to have a lot of fun over the coming months.


	5. Baby Sister

**Baby Sister.**

Throughout Hermione's pregnancy, Scorpius was convinced he was going to get a baby brother. Hermione and Draco had told their son numerous times that they might have a girl, but Scorpius wasn't having any of it. He was getting a baby brother, and that was the end of that. The couple had discussed finding out the sex of the baby beforehand so they could tell Scorpius what they were having, but they both knew how stubborn their son was. Even if they discovered they were having a girl, Scorpius wouldn't believe them until he saw her with his own two eyes.

When Hermione went into labour, Lucius and Narcissa arrived to look after Scorpius at the hospital. Even then he was still talking about getting a baby brother and when Narcissa took him down to the shop to buy something for the baby, he insisted on getting a teddy wearing a blue t-shirt that said little brother.

"But what if you get a sister?" Narcissa questioned, not wanting to buy the bear in case Hermione had a little girl.

"Sisters are yucky, I'm not getting a sister," Scorpius insisted. "I'm getting a brother and we can play together."

"You can play with a sister," Narcissa argued.

Scorpius shot Narcissa an unimpressed look at her suggestion. "You don't play with girls."

Knowing it wasn't worth arguing with her grandson, Narcissa gave in and bought the bear. Even though Scorpius wasn't quite three years old, he was an intelligent child and very articulate for his age. That made arguing with him practically impossible. He had an answer for everything, and he was ridiculously stubborn.

With a couple of new toys bought for the baby, Narcissa and Scorpius headed back to the maternity ward to wait for news of Hermione and the baby. When they returned to the waiting room and there was still no news, Scorpius complained loudly as he settled down to play with his toys. He was pretty impatient and didn't like to wait for things, least of all a baby sibling being born.

"Is he here yet?" Scorpius asked every ten minutes.

"Not yet," Lucius replied, getting wearier with every response. Considering Scorpius was very much like Draco had been at his age, he was suddenly pleased they hadn't had more children. He could just imagine Draco carrying on in much the same way if he'd been waiting for a sibling.

"We'll tell you when something happens, Scorp," Narcissa said, hoping to stop the questions for a while.

"Babies are boring," Scorpius complained as he turned back to his toys.

Lucius and Narcissa chuckled at their grandson's impatience. They were also rather eager to meet their second grandchild, but unlike Scorpius they were better at controlling their impatience. Luckily they didn't have to control themselves much longer as an excited Draco burst into the waiting room.

"It's a girl," He cried, a wide smile splitting his face.

"Congratulations," Lucius said, getting up to give his son a hug.

"That's lovely," Narcissa beamed, taking her turn at hugging her son.

After promising his parents they could see the baby in a short while, Draco turned to his son. Scorpius had looked up when he'd entered the room, but he'd now turned back to his toys.

"Scorp, do you want to come and meet your sister?" Draco asked, crouching down beside his son.

"Nope," Scorpius replied. "I don't want a sister."

"She's lovely Scorpius, you'll like her," Draco said to his son.

"I want a brother," Scorpius said, turning and glaring at his father. "Can you send her back and get me a brother?"

"Sorry Scorp, kids are non-exchangeable," Draco said with a chuckle. "Just come and meet your sister, please."

Scorpius placed his bricks down onto the table and let out a resigned sigh. "Okay. But I won't like her."

"Don't forget your present," Narcissa said, trying to hand Scorpius a bear with a pink t-shirt that said little sister. Even though Scorpius had picked out the brother bear, she'd bought the sister bear just in case.

"That's not my bear," Scorpius said, refusing to take the teddy. "I want my bear."

"But your bear doesn't work for a little sister," Narcissa pointed out as Scorpius picked up the brother bear.

"If that's what he wants to give her, let him," Draco told his mother as Scorpius shrugged at his grandmother's arguments.

With Scorpius clutching the teddy bear, Draco led his son from the waiting room to the private room Hermione was residing in. When they entered the room, Hermione was sitting up in bed, cradling their new-born daughter in her arms. Hermione smiled happily at her son and urged him to get on the bed beside her and meet his little sister. Draco helped Scorpius onto the bed, where the little boy sat carefully studying the baby in Hermione's arms for several minutes.

"What do you think?" Hermione asked. "Isn't she lovely?"

"She's tiny," Scorpius replied, his nose curling up in disgust. "Can she do anything?"

"What do you want her to do?" Draco asked in amusement.

"Anything," Scorpius shrugged. "Can she play with me?"

"Not yet," Hermione answered. "She's just a baby. For the time being, she'll not do much. But as she gets bigger she can play with you, and you can help her learn things."

"What sort of things?" Scorpius asked.

"You can read to her, and you can tell her stories," Hermione replied. "You'll be her big brother Scorpius, she'll look up to you and think you're brilliant."

"Maybe she's not so bad," Scorpius said thoughtfully. He rather liked the idea of having someone who hung on his every word and would do whatever he said.

"Do you want to help us name her?" Draco asked. "We've got two options, Lyra or Cassiopeia."

Scorpius furrowed his brow in concentration as he looked down at his little sister. "Lyra," He decided.

"Lyra it is," Hermione said. She suspected Scorpius had picked Lyra because he couldn't say Cassiopeia, but she slightly preferred Lyra anyway so she was happy with the choice.

"Are you going to give Lyra her present?" Draco asked Scorpius, noticing he was still holding onto the bear.

Scorpius looked at the teddy in his hand, before shaking his head and placing it on the bedside table. "I need a girl bear since you've got me a sister."

"We can try for a brother next time," Draco said.

"Who says we're having more children?" Hermione asked her husband. "This might be it."

"If it is, we've got two amazing kids," Draco said as he smiled down at his family.

"Yes, we have," Hermione agreed as she watched Scorpius gently stroking the top of Lyra's head. Their son might have wanted a little brother, but he was clearly taken with his little sister and both Draco and Hermione knew he would be a great big brother.


	6. Baby Steps

**Baby Steps.**

Spending time with their friends was something Draco and Hermione tried to do on a weekend. The only difference these days was the addition of children to the mix. Shortly after Hermione had given birth to Lyra, Pansy and Theo welcomed their first child into the world. Now, all of their main group of friends had children. However, they didn't all spend every weekend together. A few weeks after Lyra's first birthday, Draco and Hermione took their kids round to Blaise and Daphne's for the afternoon. All their other friends were busy so it was just the two couples and the three children, Scorpius, Lyra and Blaise and Daphne's son, Alex.

"I hope you don't mind sitting on the floor," Daphne said as the group made their way out to the Zabinis back garden. In the middle of the lawn, Daphne had spread out a large picnic blanket for the group to sit on.

"Its fine," Hermione replied, settling Lyra onto the blanket and settling down next to her daughter.

"What happened to your table and chairs?" Draco asked.

"Do you want to explain, Blaise?" Daphne questioned, settling down as Alex and Scorpius ran off down the garden.

"It was a simple accident," Blaise said defensively.

"What did you do?" Draco asked, rolling his eyes at his best friend.

"I may have accidently set the table on fire," Blaise confessed.

"How can you accidentally set a table on fire?" Hermione questioned with a frown.

"Last week I bought some fireworks from George. I thought they might be nice to set off next month at our anniversary party," Blaise explained. "Of course, I had to try them, and one of them slipped off the table and onto one of the chairs. Next thing I knew, the table and chairs exploded and within seconds they were nothing but a pile of ash."

"I told you not to mess with the fireworks," Daphne said with a shake of her head. "George said he could set them up, but you had to get involved yourself."

"I can handle a few simple fireworks," Blaise protested.

"My burnt table says otherwise," Daphne shot back.

"Was it at least fun?" Draco asked with a smirk. Like Blaise, he wouldn't have been able to resist the lure of fireworks.

Grinning excitedly, Blaise set about regaling Draco with the story of his firework experience. With Draco and Blaise chatting happily, Hermione and Daphne focused their attention on Lyra and the boys. Alex and Scorpius were tearing round the garden, chasing the puppy Daphne was minding for her mother, while Lyra was content to play with her stuffed unicorn.

"The boys seem to love the dog," Hermione said with a smile.

"Alex loves him. I'm going to have my hands full when my parents return from holiday," Daphne said with a sigh. "He's not going to like having to say goodbye to Spot."

"Have you thought about getting Alex a pet?" Hermione asked. "Scorpius has been asking for a pet, but I think he'll get bored after a few weeks and leave me to look after it."

"That's what I'm afraid of with Alex," Daphne replied. "If I was to get him his own puppy, he'd think it was great for a few months, but then he'd get bored and I'd be stuck doing everything. So I've decided, no pets until he's older."

"You could always try giving him a younger sibling," Hermione suggested.

"Alex and Blaise are enough of a handful without adding more Zabinis to the mix," Daphne said, laughing lightly. "I don't know how you cope with two kids and Draco."

"Luckily Lyra isn't much hassle," Hermione said, smiling at her daughter. "So far she's missing the mischievous Malfoy gene."

"Just wait until she's walking. Then the fun will start," Daphne said as her mother's puppy came over to Lyra and started licking her face.

Hermione and Daphne chuckled as Lyra giggled and stroked the small puppy. After a few minutes of stroking the puppy, Lyra struggled to her feet unaided. Lyra stood for a couple of seconds, before the puppy trotted off. Hermione and Daphne fully expected Lyra to flop back down in the blanket, so they were left rather shocked when she took a few tentative steps off the blanket, before rushing off after the puppy.

"Oh my god," Hermione gasped in total shock as she watched her little girl trotting around the back garden.

Hermione's gasp drew Draco and Blaise's attention, and they watched in amazement as Lyra chased after the puppy. Despite Lyra taking her first steps, she was surprisingly agile on her feet and she made it a decent way before falling over. Hermione quickly jumped up and went to Lyra when she fell, but she was pleased to find her daughter giggling happily and clapping her hands in glee.

"That was cool, Lyra," Scorpius cried, rushing over to his little sister. "Do you want to try again?"

"Go easy on her," Hermione warned her son. "Don't push her into doing anything she's not ready for."

Scorpius nodded at his mother's warning, before gently helping his little sister to her feet. Returning to the blanket, Hermione kept an eye on Scorpius and Alex as they encouraged Lyra to continue walking. Lyra was happy to play with the boys for a while, but she soon got tired and Hermione returned her to the blanket to play with her dolls.

After her first steps there was no stopping Lyra, and within weeks she was constantly toddling around all over the place. Unfortunately for Hermione along with her ability to walk came her mischievous side, and all too soon she was dealing with two young children that had inherited all their father's Slytherin cunning.


	7. Unexpected Pets

**Unexpected Pets.**

Hermione let out a contented sigh as she stepped inside the front door of her house and dropped her weekend bag onto the floor. Hermione had spent the weekend with her parents, helping her father cope with her mother who had broken her leg and was stuck in bed. As much as Hermione loved her parents the weekend had been exhausting. Even her two children weren't as much of a handful as her parents had been.

Wondering where Draco and the children were, Hermione slipped off her jacket and shoes and made her way to the front room. Finding the front room empty, albeit it a bit messy, Hermione carried on through to the kitchen. The kitchen was also empty, but Hermione took a few minutes to pour herself a glass of water. As Hermione filled the glass her eyes drifted to the back garden and her mouth dropped open in shock. Her normally immaculate lawn had a giant hole in it.

"Draco!" Hermione yelled, still shell-shocked by the sight of the hole in the back garden.

Hermione immediately heard feet on the stairs, and she turned round in time to catch Scorpius as her son launched himself at her.

"Mummy, you're back," Scorpius declared happily.

"I'm back." Hermione smiled as she picked her son up in her arms. "Did you miss me?"

Scorpius nodded happily as he snuggled into Hermione. Hermione then turned to her husband who had entered the kitchen carrying their one year old daughter, Lyra.

"We've missed you too," Draco said, stepping forward and giving Hermione a peck on the cheek.

Hermione smiled at Lyra and gave her a kiss, before refocusing on her husband. "Would you care to explain why there's a hole in the back garden?"

"It's for Jack and Jill," Scorpius answered. "We're building a pond."

"A pond?" Hermione frowned. "Why are we building a pond, and who are Jack and Jill?"

"Jack and Jill are upstairs in the bath," Scorpius said. "Come and see Mummy, they're cute and fluffy."

"Draco, what is going on?" Hermione asked her husband as Scorpius wriggled down from her arms, took hold of her hand and started to pull her towards the stairs.

"I can explain, I promise," Draco vowed as he followed his wife and son up the stairs.

An excited Scorpius dragged Hermione into the bathroom, before letting go of her hand and racing to stand beside the bathtub. As her son bent over the side of the tub and started chatting away, Hermione stepped forward to find out what exactly was in the bath. What she found was a bath half full of water and two tiny yellow ducklings swimming around.

"They're ducks," She stated with wide eyes. "Why do we have ducks in the bath?"

"We got them from the farm," Scorpius told his mother as he stroked one of the tiny ducklings.

"What farm?" Hermione asked her husband.

"Yesterday Blaise and I took the kids to a petting farm that's near to where Blaise and Daphne lives," Draco explained. "Scorpius and Lyra both loved it, as did Alex."

"That sounds like a good day out, but why do we have ducklings in the bath?" Hermione pressed. "Surely the farm didn't just let you walk away with the animals."

"Actually they often sell some of the baby animals, especially ducklings and chicks," Draco answered.

"But why did you buy two ducklings?" Hermione questioned, still not sure why exactly Draco had bought the birds.

"Blaise bought Alex a piglet, and Scorpius wanted one as well. I knew you would go mad if you returned home to find a piglet running around the house so I compromised and got the ducklings," Draco explained. "I've started work on the pond and it'll be finished in a few days. The ducks can then live outside and we can get a duck flap fitted so they can come indoors when it's cold."

"A duck flap?" Hermione repeated in bewilderment.

"Just think yourself lucky we don't have a piglet," Draco chuckled.

"I bet Daphne loved that," Hermione laughed, admitting that it could be worse than having ducklings in the bath.

"She wasn't thrilled," Draco confessed. "In fact when we left she was insisting Blaise return the piglet."

"And what did Blaise have to say about that?" Hermione questioned, watching Scorpius as he splashed around in the water playing with the ducklings.

"He reckoned he wasn't returning it. According to him when it's fully grown, it's going to provide breakfast for a month."

"That's awful, he can't do that," Hermione gasped.

"Of course he won't," Draco laughed. "He was just as excited about getting the piglet as Alex."

"Daddy, can we get Jack and Jill out of the water now?" Scorpius asked, interrupting his parent's conversation.

"I guess so," Draco said to his son. "According to the farmer until we get the pond built putting them in the bath for a few hours here and there will be fine."

"And what happens when they're not in the bath?" Hermione asked, taking Lyra off Draco as her husband went to get the ducklings out of the bath.

"They just run around the place." Draco shrugged in response to his wife's question. "We've set up a bed for them in Scorpius's room and I've cast charms on them so anytime they do any business it cleans itself."

Still not sure of how it would work having ducklings running around the place, Hermione watched as Draco took each duckling from the bath and dried them off with a towel before placing them on the floor. The ducklings immediately ran over to Scorpius, who sat down on the floor to play with them.

"Don't sit on the bathroom floor," Draco told his son. "Come downstairs and play."

Scorpius instantly jumped up and taking hold of Draco's hand he trotted out of the bathroom and headed towards the stairs. Hermione followed with Lyra, watching in amazement as the ducklings followed Scorpius down the stairs. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs Draco let go of Scorpius's hand and he went running into the front room with the ducklings hot on his heels.

"That is rather cute," Hermione admitted as she watched Scorpius running around the front room with the ducklings. "They seem to love Scorpius."

"They do." Draco nodded. "They follow him everywhere."

"Let's just hope they'll stay on their pond when it's built," Hermione said as she settled down on the sofa and placed Lyra in her nearby playpen.

"Does that mean we're keeping them?" Draco checked as he sat down next to his wife.

"I can hardly tell you to take them back, can I?" Hermione snorted. "Scorpius would be heartbroken, he clearly loves the ducklings."

"He does." Draco smiled fondly as he watched his son playing with the ducklings.

"Although I'm not sure I'll be leaving you alone for the weekend again," Hermione said as Draco wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Who knows what I'll return home to next time."

"Well I have been thinking of taking Scorpius to the dragon sanctuary," Draco grinned wickedly.

"No dragons," Hermione insisted, causing Draco to laugh at the horror etched onto her face at the thought of coming home to a baby dragon in the house.

Coming home to find two ducklings in residence and her garden half dug up was bad enough, but Hermione had no desire to come home to find a baby dragon flying around the place. Her life was hectic enough dealing with Draco and the kids, let alone adding a dragon to the mix.


	8. Quidditch

**Quidditch.**

Hermione sat on the sofa with Lyra on her knee, watching in amusement as Draco tried to get their son ready to go out. It was a few days after Scorpius's fourth birthday, and Draco was taking his son to watch his very first live quidditch match. Scorpius had been looking forward to the day for weeks, and he was currently running around practising his cheering.

"Scorp, come here," Draco cried in exasperation. "I need to put your shoes on."

"I would put his trousers on first," Hermione advised with a laugh. Scorpius had shed his trousers a few moments ago and was now running around wearing only his Tutshill Tornadoes jersey.

"Damn it Scorp, how many times do I have to tell you to keep your trousers on," Draco grumbled, picking up the discarded trousers.

"But you said I could wear my new top," Scorpius protested.

"But you still need trousers," Draco pointed out. "You never ever leave home without wearing trousers."

"But trousers are itchy," Scorpius whined as Draco finally grabbed hold of him. "I just want to wear my top."

"No trousers, no quidditch," Draco said sternly.

Scorpius pouted, but he didn't argue any further as Draco redressed him in his trousers and put his shoes on.

"Are you sure you two don't want to come?" Draco asked his wife as he manoeuvred Scorpius into his jacket. "Blaise and I have hired a private box to watch the match."

"We're fine here," Hermione replied. She was quite happy snuggled up on the sofa with her baby daughter, and she had no intention of leaving the nice warm house to venture into the cold to watch quidditch. "But you two have a good time, and behave yourselves."

"We'll be good," Draco promised. "Won't we Scorp?"

Scorpius nodded as he pulled on his hat. "Yep. We'll be very good."

"Come on son, let's go," Draco said, taking hold of Scorpius's hand.

Saying a final goodbye to Hermione and Lyra, Draco apparated him and Scorpius to the quidditch stadium where they were meeting up with Blaise and Alex. Blaise and Alex arrived moments after Draco and Scorpius and together the four wizards headed into the stadium. Since it was Scorpius and Alex's first time at a quidditch match, Draco and Blaise had hired a box and arranged it so that they could enter the box without having to mingle with the rest of the crowd.

When they arrived in the box, Blaise and Draco ensured the wards around the box would keep the boys safe before they let go of their hands. Together Scorpius and Alex ran to the front of the box, and looked out over the magnificent stadium. Joining their sons, Draco and Blaise also took in the stunning views their box offered. The pair had visited many quidditch stadiums and watched many games together, and they both agreed the home stadium of the Tornadoes was the best venue to watch live quidditch.

"Who wants a banner to wave?" Blaise asked.

"Me, me," Scorpius and Alex chorused, jumping up and down excitedly.

"I'll go and get banners," Blaise offered. "Should I also pick up hotdogs and drinks?"

"That sounds good," Draco replied.

While Blaise went to grab some refreshments and banners, Draco helped Scorpius and Alex out of their jackets. Unlike the rest of the stadium, the boxes were temperature controlled so that coats and jackets weren't necessary. Hanging the boys' jackets over the back of one of the unused chairs, Draco removed his own jacket and settled down in one of the seats.

When Blaise returned, he placed two banners to one side and handed out hotdogs and juice. Scorpius and Alex wolfed down their hotdogs, and when they were finished Blaise handed them each a banner to wave.

"Remember, wave the banner when we score," Draco told the two boys.

"Are you going to sit down?" Blaise asked as he settled in the seat beside Draco.

"No," Alex replied, not bothering to turn and look at his father as the players started to emerge onto the pitch.

Totally engrossed in what was happening, Scorpius and Alex waved their banners and cheered at the top of their voices when the Tornadoes players were introduced. As the match got underway, the two boys' focus never wavered from the match in front of them. Even though they were both too young to understand the rules, they understood enough to cheer and wave their banners when their team did well.

"I think we've converted them," Blaise remarked to Draco as the boys cheered on another goal.

"Boys and their quidditch," Draco said with an affectionate smile. He could still vividly remember attending his first match with his father when he was just a boy, and he wanted Scorpius to have memories like the ones he had of attending quidditch matches with his father.

"I think we now have two mini Tornadoes fans on our hands," Blaise chuckled.

"At least we're getting them to support a decent team," Draco said. "Imagine raising them to support losers like the Chudley Cannons."

"Theo is a Cannons fan, as is Ron," Blaise said.

"I feel sorry for their kids," Draco said with an exaggerated sigh. "They'll never know what it's like to watch their team win the championship."

Blaise nodded his agreement as the pair turned their attention back to the match in progress. An hour later, the match was won when the Tornadoes seeker spectacularly caught the snitch. Draco and Blaise joined in with the crowd's cheers as Scorpius and Alex jumped up and down, waving their banner.

"How did you enjoy the match?" Draco asked as he and Blaise got the boys back into the jackets.

"Great," Scorpius cheered.

Alex agreed with Scorpius and the two boys chattered on about the match as they exited the stadium. Saying their goodbyes, the two men took their children home, where both Scorpius and Alex proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon telling their mothers about their experiences and their ambitions to one day become professional quidditch players.


	9. Illness

**Illness.**

Perched on the edge of Scorpius's bed, Hermione gently stroked the five year old's soft blond hair. Scorpius had been sniffling for the last couple of days, but he'd now completely come down with the flu. Hermione had insisted that Scorpius remain in bed, and it was testament to how bad the little boy felt that he didn't complain. Instead he stayed snuggled in his bed as Hermione fussed over him.

"Let me know if you need anything," Hermione said to her son. "I have to go and check on your sister."

Scorpius managed to nod his head, before snuggling further down in his bed. Wishing there was something she could do to make her son feel better, Hermione left his bedroom and headed into her daughter's room. Luckily Lyra hadn't seemed to have caught Scorpius's germs, and Hermione was hoping it would stay that way.

"Hey, princess," Hermione cooed, scooping her daughter up into her arms. Lyra had been happily playing in her play pen, but she willingly snuggled into her mother. "Since your brother isn't well, we'll go and snuggle downstairs and watch a film."

Making one final check on Scorpius, and finding he'd fallen back to sleep, Hermione took Lyra downstairs. Settling her daughter on the sofa, she put on a Disney film and settled down beside her daughter. She was hoping to have a few hours peace since she'd been up to Scorpius a couple of times in the night.

Hermione's peace didn't last long, before she heard Scorpius calling her from upstairs. Casting a protective charm on the sofa, so that Lyra wouldn't hurt herself, Hermione trudged back upstairs to see to her poorly son. After giving Scorpius another dose of the children's medicine she had, Hermione settled him down and tried to get him to go back to sleep.

"My head hurts," Scorpius whispered.

"I know baby," Hermione said soothingly. "The medicine will help."

"Can you stay with me?" Scorpius asked.

"I can't leave your sister," Hermione said regretfully. "But why don't you come and curl up downstairs."

Hermione had been hoping to keep Scorpius away from Lyra until his germs had cleared up, but she couldn't keep running up and down the stairs. Hopefully she could wrap Scorpius up on one of the sofas and Lyra wouldn't catch his flu. But even if she did, it was easier to deal with her two children if they were in the same room.

Gathering up Scorpius's bedding, Hermione helped her son downstairs. Settling him on the unoccupied sofa, she tucked him in before re-joining Lyra on the other sofa. For a few hours the plan worked fine, and Hermione was able to keep an eye on Lyra while she was looking after Scorpius. However, shortly after they'd had lunch, Lyra started to cry softly.

"What's the matter, baby?" Hermione asked, scooping Lyra up and cradling her on her knee.

"My head hurts," Lyra whimpered.

Hermione pressed her hand against Lyra's head and could feel her daughter was starting to burn up. Grabbing some of Scorpius's medicine, she gave a spoonful to her daughter and settled her down on the sofa beside her. Summoning Lyra's blankets, she wrapped them round her daughter and encouraged her to sleep.

"Great," Hermione muttered once both her children were snuggled up on the two sofas sleeping. "Just what I need, two sick kids."

For the rest of the day, Hermione felt as though she did nothing other than tending to sick children. She'd no sooner finish with Scorpius, then Lyra would start whimpering for her attention. Flitting backwards and forwards between her two children, Hermione was exhausted by the time she heard the floo network sound in the next room, signalling Draco had returned from work.

"Ssh," She hissed, the second her husband appeared in the doorway. "They're both sleeping."

"Lucky things," Draco croaked.

"Not you as well," Hermione sighed, taking in the sight of her paler than normal husband. "Are you feeling bad?"

"My head is killing me and I've been sneezing all afternoon," Draco replied.

"You should head to bed," Hermione said. "I'll bring you a hot drink and get you a pepper-up potion."

"Thanks," Draco replied with a weak smile. "You're an angel."

Hermione smiled back at Draco as he turned and slowly headed up the stairs. With a sigh, she headed into the kitchen to sort Draco a hot drink. It was just typical that on the same day both their children were feeling ill that Draco would come down the same bug. Now she had three people to look after.

"My weekend's going to be fun," Hermione muttered to herself as she headed upstairs to deal with her husband.

Sure enough Hermione spent the weekend, running round after two sick children and a sick husband. By the end of the weekend, Hermione herself wasn't feeling great, but she didn't have time to be ill. Dosing herself with potions, she carried on looking after her family and made sure they all got themselves better.


	10. Accidental Magic

**Accidental Magic.**

Hermione had been on edge all day as her children had done nothing but bicker. Technically it was Scorpius doing the bickering, but his little sister was a devil and was constantly annoying her brother. Five year old Scorpius was building a castle with his building toys, but three year old Lyra kept knocking parts of it over.

"Mum, make her stop," Scorpius cried as Lyra 'accidentally' knocked over his tower for the third time in half an hour.

"Lyra, come up here," Hermione said to her daughter, patting the sofa next to where she was sitting.

"No." Lyra shook her little head stubbornly. "I'm playing with Scorp."

"I don't want you to play with me," Scorpius hissed.

Lyra just giggled in response to her brother's anger. Getting to her feet, she headed over to the other side of the room, knocking down yet more of her brother's castle as she went. Scorpius turned bright red at the destruction his sister was causing, but before he had a chance to shout some more his mother swooped into action and picked Lyra up.

"Come and read with me, princess," Hermione said to her daughter as she settled Lyra on her knee. "Let's leave your brother to play in peace."

"I don't want to read," Lyra whined.

"I'm not letting you back down to knock your brothers toys over again," Hermione replied. "You have to learn how to play nicely, Lyra."

"I was playing nice," Lyra argued with a pout.

"Knocking over Scorpius's castle, isn't nice," Hermione said sternly. "Until I'm sure you can behave yourself, you're staying up here with me."

Lyra let out a dramatic sigh, but she made no attempt to move off her mother's knee. Hermione smiled at her daughter and gave her a quick kiss on the head as she summoned a storybook to read.

"Good girl," She said as she opened the book and began to read to Lyra.

Ten minutes later, peace reigned in the Malfoy residence. Scorpius was happily putting the finishing touches to his castle, while Lyra was happily settled on her mother's knee as Hermione read to her. Just as Hermione reached the end of her page and was about to turn over, the doorbell rang. Even though she wasn't expecting anyone, Hermione knew their friends sometimes visited via the front door rather than using the floo.

"Scorpius, look after your sister," Hermione said as she sat Lyra down on the sofa with her book. "I'll be two minutes."

Leaving her children in the front room, Hermione went to answer the door. Instead of finding one of her friends at the door, Hermione came face to face with the witch who ran the shop in the nearby village. Hermione was a regular visitor to the shop and had in fact been down in the village that morning with Scorpius and Lyra.

"Mrs Koppel, how can I help you?" Hermione asked with a smile.

"Your daughter dropped this when you were at the shop earlier," Mrs Koppel replied, handing Hermione a small purse with a few Knuts inside. "We didn't spot it until you'd left, but it has Lyra's name inside."

"Thank you very much," Hermione said. The purse with the Knuts had been a present from Lucius, and Lyra insisted on taking it everywhere in case she saw something she wanted to buy with her money from her grandfather. "I didn't even realise it was gone. It must have fallen out of Lyra's backpack."

Thanking Mrs Koppel again, Hermione said goodbye and shut the front door. Hermione had just placed the purse on the table in the front hall when a loud crash sounded from the front room.

"Lyra!" Scorpius screamed at the top of his voice.

Shaking her head, Hermione headed into the front room to see what had happened now. Considering the crashing noise she wasn't at all surprised to find a portion of Scorpius's tower had been knocked over. What she didn't expect to find was a stunned looking Scorpius standing amidst the chaos, while a giggling Lyra was perched on top of the large wooden bookcase that ran from the floor almost up to the ceiling.

"What on earth happened?" Hermione questioned as she hurried into the room and pulled out her wand. Carefully she levitated her daughter from the top of the bookshelf and into her arms. "How on earth did Lyra end up on top of the bookcase?"

"I'm sorry," Scorpius whispered. "It was an accident, I didn't mean to do it."

"Of course you didn't, sweetheart," Hermione soothed, instantly releasing what had happened. Scorpius had been so mad at Lyra destroying his castle again, it must have manifested itself in a display of accidental magic.

"I'm sorry Lyra," Scorpius sniffed. He knew he'd put his little sister in danger by losing control of his magic, but he hadn't been able to help himself.

"It's okay darling, no-one was hurt," Hermione said as she gave her son a hug. "I know you didn't mean to put your sister on top of the bookcase. But you are going to have to try and learn to control your magic."

"I know." Scorpius nodded. He attended a school for young wizards and they were learning about controlling their magic, but since his magic only ever appeared occasionally, Scorpius was finding it quite difficult to manage.

"Don't worry Scorp," Hermione said to her worried son. "When your Dad comes home, he can teach you a few tricks. When he was little, he couldn't control his magic either."

"Could you?" Scorpius asked his mother with interest.

"No, but I didn't know I had magic when I was little," Hermione replied. "Odd things used to happen to me, but I didn't know what it was. But your Dad always knew he had magic, so he'll have a few tricks to help you control yours."

Scorpius didn't look entirely convinced, but luckily when Draco arrived home an hour later, he had plenty of advice for his son. After talking to Draco for half an hour and hearing some of the stories about his father's accidental magic, Scorpius felt a lot better about his magical outburst. Lyra meanwhile was unconcerned by the entire incident, and in fact kept asking when she could sit on top of the bookcase again.


	11. Monsters

**A/N – Sorry about the lack of update yesterday, but I'm not very well and I really didn't have the energy to post a chapter. Hopefully now I've been to the doctor and have some antibiotics, I should start feeling better and updates won't be an issue, but if I do miss another update in the next few days, it'll just be because I'm still not well.**

* * *

 **Monsters.**

"More," Four year old Lyra begged her big brother, Scorpius.

The two children were sitting in Scorpius's bedroom in a blanket fort the six year old had made. On the floor beside them were glasses of milk and a bowl of fruit pieces. For a while the two children had been playing with board games, but Scorpius had gotten bored and had decided to regale of his sister with stories he'd made up. However, the longer the stories went on the more mischievous Scorpius became and he soon began entertaining his little sister with tales of monsters and ghosts. Lyra giggled and laughed her way through the stories, never once getting frightened because she had her big brother to protect her.

However, it was a different story a few hours later once Lyra was tucked up bed, all alone in her room. As usual her parents had read her a story and left her night light on, but as she lay in bed her little mind went back to the stories Scorpius had told her earlier. Warily she eyed her wardrobe, wondering what sort of monster was lying in wait for her. Lyra was so jumpy at the thoughts of monsters in her wardrobe that she knocked her favourite cuddly dragon to the floor.

"Holly," Lyra whispered, carefully peering over the side of the bed and finding her dragon lying on the floor.

Normally Lyra would have just picked her dragon up, but now she was worried about monsters under her bed. She didn't want to get grabbed and yanked under the bed like Scorpius had described earlier. Thoughts of her brother, suddenly gave Lyra an idea.

"Scorpius!" She cried at the top of her voice. She knew her brother was in his room, but their parents were still downstairs.

When Scorpius didn't immediately appear in her room, Lyra kept calling for him. Eventually a moody looking Scorpius pushed open the door to his sister's room.

"What?" He demanded snappishly.

"I'm scared," Lyra said with a tremor in her voice. "There's monsters under my bed and Holly is on the floor."

"There's no monsters, Lyra," Scorpius sighed as he entered the room and walked over to his sister's bed. Picking up Holly, he handed her the stuffed dragon, which his sister immediately clutched to her chest.

"But you said the bed monsters lived under the bed," Lyra said. "And you said they took little girls when they weren't looking."

"It was just a story, Lyra," Scorpius said, feeling slightly guilty that he'd scared his sister. "It's not true. It's like the stories Mum and Dad tell you before bed, it's just make believe."

"I don't like the stories," Lyra sniffed. "I'm scared Scorp."

"I promise that I won't let any monsters get you," Scorpius vowed to his little sister. "Watch." Making sure Lyra was watching him, Scorpius got down on his hands and knees and peered under the bed. "See, no monsters,"

Slowly Lyra leant out of bed and looked underneath it. As Scorpius had said, there was no monsters under the bed.

"See, you're safe," Scorpius said. "Now go to sleep before Mum and Dad find out you're still awake."

"Okay," Lyra said quietly as she settled back under the covers.

"Night, Lyra," Scorpius said, smiling at his little sister before heading back to his own bed.

After Scorpius left, Lyra tried her hardest to go to sleep, but she was still scared of the monsters. She knew there were no monsters under her bed, but she'd forgotten to get Scorpius to check the wardrobe.

"Come on Holly," Lyra whispered to the dragon as she pushed back the covers and got out of bed. "Let's go somewhere safe."

Quickly she ran out onto the landing, and paused as she tried to figure out where to go. She first looked at Scorpius's room, but she wasn't sure her brother would let her stay with him. Most of the time Scorpius was really nice to her, but he'd already checked for bed monsters so he might not by happy that she was scared again. Turning her attention away from her brother's room she made her way down towards her parents' bedroom. Even if her parents weren't in their room she knew she wouldn't have to worry about monsters in their room. No monsters would dare try and scare her Daddy.

Entering her parents' room, Lyra found the big king size bed empty. Clambering up onto the bed, Lyra crawled under the covers and settled down right in the middle of the bed. Clutching Holly to her chest the four year old fell asleep, and remained asleep until her parents entered their room and found their daughter surprisingly curled up in their bed a few hours later.

"Lyra, why are in our bed?" Draco asked gently as his daughter's eyes flicked open.

"There's monsters in my room," Lyra replied sleepily.

"There's no monsters darling," Hermione said soothingly.

"There is," Lyra said with more force. "Big ones that eat little girls."

"We can't have that," Draco said in fake outrage. "I need to go and kick those monsters out of your room."

"'Morrow," Lyra muttered sleepily. "I want to stay here now."

Draco looked up at Hermione, who quietly agreed they could let their daughter sleep with them for the one night. Getting ready for bed, the couple settled down on either side of their daughter. With her parents snuggled in bed with her, Lyra wasn't scared of monsters any longer and she had a good night's sleep.

The next day, Draco made a big display of chasing the monsters from Lyra's bedroom with his wand. With a promise from her father that the monsters would never return, Lyra settled back into her own room and was never again scared of monsters in the middle of the night.


	12. Playtime

**Playtime.**

Carrying a tray of refreshments, Hermione entered the front room and placed the tray on the coffee table. It was a Sunday afternoon and Hermione and Draco had invited their friends over for lunch. After lunch they'd been planning on going outside so the children could play, but it had come onto rain so the group were stuck indoors. The older children had all gone upstairs to play, while the younger ones had remained downstairs with the adults.

Downstairs was Theo and Pansy's two year old, Angelica and Harry and Ginny's three year old daughter, Lily. Upstairs were the Potters other two sons, eight year old James and five year old Albus, along with their cousins Rose and Hugo, who were also eight and five respectively. Despite only being six the ringleaders of the group would undoubtedly be Scorpius and his best friend Alex. And making up the numbers were the four year olds Lyra, and her friend Faith Nott.

"Do you think we should check on the kids?" Ginny questioned, glancing upwards. "They're being awfully quiet up there."

"We've got a pile of wards so they don't hurt themselves," Draco answered. "I say we stay down here and enjoy the peace."

"I agree," Blaise said, not wanting to get up. "What harm can they be doing anyway?"

The rest of the group all nodded in agreement as they remained settled in the front room, drinking coffee and having a relaxing Sunday afternoon with friends. However, ten minutes later they found out exactly what the kids were doing upstairs when Faith came trotting into the room, her little mouth smothered in chocolate.

"What on earth?" Pansy questioned, spotting her eldest daughter in the doorway. "Faith, what have you being doing?"

"Nothing," Faith replied, wiping the back of her hand over her mouth and smearing the chocolate down her chin.

"Is that chocolate?" Theo asked his daughter.

"Where on earth did she get chocolate from?" Hermione frowned. "I don't think we've got any chocolate, and if we did it would be in the kitchen."

"Faith, where did you find the chocolate?" Pansy gently asked her daughter. "Don't worry, you're not in any trouble."

"Lyra gave it to me," Faith replied in a whisper. "She stole a tub from Scorpius."

"Tub?" Ginny questioned. "Since when does chocolate come in a tub?"

"Shit," Draco muttered, turning to Hermione and seeing his wife had come to the same conclusion as he had judging by the horrified look on her face. "I'll go and check what's going on up there."

Unfortunately before Draco had a chance to head off upstairs, the children could be heard pounding down the stairs and within seconds they'd piled into the room. Looking at their children, the adults all stared in shock. Lyra's little face was covered in chocolate like Faith's, while Albus and Hugo also had streaks of coloured chocolate on their faces and school ties tied around their heads like headbands. Scorpius was running around in Draco's old quidditch uniform and Rose was wearing an old uniform of Hermione's, despite the two outfits being far too big for the children. James had his wrists bound together with a pair of purple fluffy handcuffs and was begging Rose to release him. Alex meanwhile was wearing a blindfold on the top of his head, a pair of lacy knickers over his trousers and brandishing a second set of handcuffs.

"Bloody hell," Ron declared. "What is all this?"

"We found a play box," Hugo cried excitedly as he charged around the room with Albus.

"Scorpius, have you been in our bedroom?" Hermione questioned her son in a stern voice.

"We were only looking," Scorpius pouted.

"You know you're not allowed to play in our room," Draco scolded his son.

"But you have dressing up clothes," Alex said, unfazed by the fact his godparents seemed mad. "It's so cool. I'm going to play quidditch when Scorp's done."

"Everyone stop," Hermione cried, trying to gather up the marauding children. "We need to get you cleaned up."

"Why?" Blaise questioned with a cheeky smirk. "All this stuff looks like fun. I bet you two have a lot of fun with your play box."

"Shut it Blaise, you're not helping," Draco muttered as the adults all laughed.

Now the initial surprise had worn off, everyone found it hilarious that the children had broken into Hermione and Draco's sexy play box. Of course, Hermione and Draco weren't finding it quite as funny as their friends. Now everyone knew they liked to indulge in the occasional bit of dressing up and bondage fun. It was also clear they used body chocolate, and much to Hermione's horror Alex was wearing her one and only pair of crotch-less knickers.

"I'm going to go and check upstairs," Hermione said as she stood up. "Draco, get this lot cleared up."

Leaving her husband to deal with the children, Hermione cautiously made her way upstairs. Entering the bedroom, she found their box had been pulled out from the back of the wardrobe and placed in the centre of the large bed. Strewn over the bed was a selection of her more risqué underwear, alongside several empty tubs of flavoured chocolate body paint. There was also a large damp spot on the covers where someone had knocked over one of the bottles of massage oil.

Sighing, Hermione whipped out her wand and tidied the box and its contents up. Placing it on the floor beside the wardrobe, she checked inside the large walk-in wardrobe and found her shoes dotted about all over the place and several of her dresses had been pulled from the hangers. Obviously the kids had been playing dressing up with her normal clothes. If only they'd stuck with them and hadn't gone exploring.

Tidying up the wardrobe, Hermione checked to make sure nothing else was disturbed before she exited the room and headed back downstairs. The noise coming from the front room indicated her friends were still in kinks over what had happened, but she was relieved to at least find a clean-up job on the kids had begun. Apart from Alex and Scorpius, who were proving difficult to get hold of, everyone else had clean faces and had removed the clothes and accessories.

"Scorpius Malfoy, come here," Hermione said firmly.

Scorpius took one look at his mother before slinking over to her. Without hesitation, Hermione pulled the quidditch uniform off her son as she scolded him yet again for going into their room. As Hermione was sorting Scorpius, Daphne managed to get hold of Alex and divest him of the handcuffs, blindfold and underwear.

"Crotch-less, very nice," Blaise grinned as Draco gathered up all the paraphernalia to take back upstairs.

"You kids can play in here where we can keep an eye on you," Hermione said, ignoring Blaise's lecherous looks as she sat back down.

"Well, this has certainly been a different Sunday afternoon," Pansy joked. "It's not every day you get a glimpse into your friend's love life."

"Thank Merlin for that," Harry muttered. "I think I've seen more than I ever needed to know."

"I don't know, I thought it was very enlightening," Blaise said with a wicked smirk. "So tell us Hermione, who uses the handcuffs? Who likes to be tied down?"

"Blaise, that's enough," Daphne hissed. "There's children present."

"Fine, but don't think we're going to forget this," Blaise said. "Believe you me, this story will be one we tell for years to come."

"I just wish we'd thought to take pictures," Theo laughed.

Hermione just rolled her eyes at her husband's two best friends, but sure enough the story was repeated many a time over the years. After all, it was hard to forget the time the children had found Draco and Hermione's saucy play box.


	13. Tea Party

**Tea Party.**

It was a gorgeous August summer day and all seven year old Scorpius wanted to do was practice his flying. He'd recently gotten a new broom, the latest in the children's range, and he was eager to practice. By the time he went to Hogwarts in just over four years he wanted to be a top class flyer. There was nothing he would love more than being picked for the quidditch team in his first year.

Unfortunately for Scorpius, his hopes of flying were dashed by his little sister. Lyra had just received a brand new tea set off their grandmother, and she was determined she was going to host a tea party in the back garden. All morning Lyra had been in the kitchen with Hermione, whipping up drinks and snacks for the tea party. Normally Scorpius wouldn't mind his little sister taking over the back garden, but he wasn't impressed that he was forced to attend the tea party.

"Why do I have to be here?" He complained to his father as the two wizards settled themselves at the small table Lyra had set up in the garden.

"Because you're part of this family," Draco replied, trying to get comfortable on the grass. He'd tried to persuade Lyra to use the proper garden table to host her tea party, but his daughter had insisted they use her toy table.

"But this is girls stuff," Scorpius hissed, gesturing to the plates and cups with little red hearts on.

"Sometimes you have to humour the witches in your life," Draco said sagely. "A few hours sitting at a toy table is a small price to pay to have a happy daughter."

"But I don't have a daughter," Scorpius pointed out. "Why should I suffer?"

"The same rules apply for little sisters," Draco chuckled. "Besides, imagine the strop Lyra would throw if you missed her tea party."

Scorpius grimaced, just imagining the fuss his little sister would make if she didn't get her own way. Lyra wasn't particularly spoilt, but like all Malfoys she liked to get her own way and wasn't happy when she didn't. No doubt she would sulk for days and refuse to talk to Scorpius if he ditched her tea party.

"Just smile and pretend you're having fun," Draco whispered to his son as the kitchen door opened and Lyra and Hermione came outside.

Lyra was carefully carrying a cake tier, full of miniature cakes and sandwiches, while Hermione was carrying the teapot that matched the plates and cups. Both Lyra and Hermione placed their goodies on the table, before settling down at the table. Like Draco and Scorpius, Hermione settled on the grass, but Lyra sat down in one of the chairs that went around her table.

"Why are you sitting on the grass?" Lyra asked, looking around at her parents and brother.

"We're too big for the chairs, Lyra," Draco explained to his daughter. "We don't want to break them."

"No, don't break my chairs," Lyra said, her small face contorting in horror at the thought of her toys getting broke.

"Should I pour the tea, Lyra?" Hermione asked. Lyra had insisted on having real tea, meaning that Hermione wasn't going to let her daughter handle the teapot herself.

"Yes," Lyra replied. "And people can have food."

"What food?" Scorpius muttered. "The sandwiches and cakes are tiny."

"They're bite size," Hermione said, shooting her son a warning glare.

"Yeah, bite size for elves," Scorpius retorted as he grabbed a couple of sandwiches and put them on his plate.

"I think they're lovely, Lyra," Draco said, giving his daughter a smile as he helped himself to a miniature sandwich.

Lyra grinned back at her father as she grabbed a sandwich for herself and began to eat. After downing a sandwich, she picked up her cup and carefully sniffed the liquid inside. Hermione had magically cooled the tea so it didn't scald Lyra, but she hadn't altered the smell or the taste.

"I can get you some juice if you want," Hermione offered as Lyra continued to sniff the tea.

"No," Lyra replied shaking her head stubbornly. "You don't drink juice at a tea party, you drink tea."

As if to prove her point, Lyra took a drink of her tea. The liquid had barely entered her mouth when the little girl made a disgusting face and spat it straight back out onto the grass. Hermione and Draco shared an amused look at their daughter's antics, while Scorpius burst out laughing at his sister.

"Yuck!" Lyra declared, wiping at her tongue with her hands to get rid of the taste.

"It can't be that bad," Scorpius laughed. Picking up his own cup, he took a timid drink and instantly recoiled, although he managed to swallow his drink rather than spitting it back out. "I take it back, this is horrible."

"Why don't I get some juice," Hermione suggested. Pulling out her wand, she summoned some juice from the kitchen and gave some to both her children.

"I'm sure you'll both like tea when you're older," Draco said. "I hated tea when I was younger. Blaise and I once tried it when my mother had friends round for the afternoon. Blaise was so disgusted with the taste that he spat it back out and it soaked Mrs Parkinson. Needless to say we weren't allowed to be around for afternoon tea after that."

"No wonder Pansy's mother doesn't like Blaise," Hermione laughed. "I always thought it was because Blaise was too outspoken for her liking since she's so conservative."

"That doesn't help," Draco agreed. "But his fate was sealed when he soaked her with tea."

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the back garden, with Lyra loving playing hostess. Even Scorpius had a fun afternoon, despite his initial protests about the event being too girly. However, he never mentioned to his friends that he'd attended his little sister's tea party.


	14. Trick or Treat

**Trick or Treat.**

"Are you sure about this?" Draco asked his wife.

It was Halloween and they were taking their kids to the Potters. In the wizarding village where Harry and Ginny lived, a night of trick-or-treating had been organised. The entire village had been decorated, and wizarding children were encouraged to visit the village and call at every house. The village hall had even been turned into a fun house, with all sorts of spooky games and activities going on inside.

"Of course we are," Hermione replied. She knew Draco wasn't sure about the evening activities as there'd been nothing like this when he was a child. In fact it was a fairly new thing in wizarding Britain at all, with the idea originally coming from America, where Halloween was celebrated in style.

"And Harry is okay with this as well?" Draco questioned. He'd never really understood how Harry could celebrate Halloween the way he did given what had happened to his parents on that day.

"Harry's looking forward to it," Hermione replied. "And so are the children. If you want to disappoint five kids, be my guest."

Draco grimaced at the thought of disappointing not only his two children, but the three Potter children as well. He didn't have to worry about the other kids, as all their other friends had plans. Pansy and Theo were taking their children to Pansy's parents for the weekend, Blaise and Daphne were on holiday with Alex, and Ron and Lavender were attending a party thrown by one of Lavender's friends.

"So are we ready?" Hermione checked.

"Yeah, let's go," Draco replied.

Hermione called for Scorpius and Lyra and the two children came flying into the front room, complete with their Halloween costumes. Lyra was dressed as a witch, with a black and purple dress, pointy hat and toy broomstick and cat. Draco had pointed out she didn't look much like a real witch, but Lyra had retorted that she was dressed like the muggles expected a witch to look. Scorpius meanwhile was dressed as a zombie, with very realistic make-up that made him look as though his skin was peeling off.

"You two look great," Hermione said, smiling at the pair. "Now let's get going. Scorpius, you go first."

Scorpius flooed to the Potters, closely followed by Lyra and his parents. Arriving at the Potters, they found that the family were ready to go. Like Scorpius and Lyra, James, Albus and Lily were all dressed up. Lily was wearing an outfit identical to Lyra's, only where Lyra's outfit was black and purple, Lily's was black and orange. Draco half expected the two girls to be mad that they were wearing matching outfits, but it quickly became clear that it was all planned and they both knew they were going to be dressed up as witches. Meanwhile, ten year old James was wearing a skeleton costume, while Albus was dressed as a mummy.

"Thank Merlin we didn't have to dress up," Harry whispered to Draco as the kids compared outfits.

"I wouldn't have stood for that," Draco replied.

"I'm sure you would have dressed up for Hermione," Harry said with a chuckle.

"Only in the privacy of our bedroom," Draco retorted with a smirk.

Chuckling at the blond wizard, Harry picked up the plastic pumpkin buckets he'd picked up that day and handed one to each of the children. "Each of you fill up your bucket with goodies."

"Won't they get sick eating a whole bucket of sweets?" Draco asked with a frown. To be honest he was surprised that Hermione was happy to let Scorpius and Lyra stock up on so many sweets.

"Not everyone is giving sweets," Ginny answered. "It's been decided that people will provide small toys and games and healthy snacks as well as sweets. By the end of the night, the kids should have a bucket full of all sorts of goodies."

"Let's get going then," Hermione said.

Steering the kids outside, they began to meander thought the small village where the Potters lived. While the kids ran on ahead, the four adults strolled along behind them. They were all admiring the village, which had pulled out all the stops to look amazing. Every single house was decorated and there was even decorations in gardens and out on the streets.

"I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before," Hermione remarked as they watched the children call at the first house. "It's amazing."

"It's a perfect way to celebrate Halloween safely," Ginny said. "We know the kids are welcome at every house, and they're having a ball."

"It looks like everyone's having fun," Hermione said. The village was actually pretty packed with kids dressed up and their parents watching on.

"Look what we got, eyeball marbles." Albus cried as the children came back from their first port of call.

Excitedly Albus and Scorpius showed their parents the bag of marbles they had. Only instead of normal marble colours, the marbles were painted with different looking eyeballs.

"Lovely," Hermione said, trying to sound sincere even though she found the marbles creepy.

"Come on, let's see what else you can get," Harry said, ushering the group to their next house.

Trick-or-treating went on for a couple of hours, before they headed to the village hall. Once at the village hall, the children indulged in all sorts of games and won dozens of prizes between them. They also had their picture taken on a stage set up to resemble a graveyard, with both Hermione and Ginny ordering copies.

"Can we do this again, next year?" Scorpius asked as they made their way back to the Potters.

"We'll see," Draco replied. He knew if the village did the same again next year, they'd be back. The kids had really enjoyed themselves, and he had to admit it had been a good evening.

"If they do this again next year, I'm going to insist the others join us," Ginny said. "Tonight has been really good."

"It has," Hermione agreed.

The kids also agreed, and when they got back to the Potters they compared what was in their buckets. They all had a decent selection of sweets and snacks as well as small toys and games. The girls even had some sparkly hair bobbles and a hairband each, while the boys had quidditch figurines.

All in all it was decided the night had been a success, and the following year the rest of the group joined in with their children. Halloween at the Potters village soon became a yearly tradition, which carried on until all the children were off at Hogwarts.


	15. Annoying Little Sister

**Annoying Little Sister.**

The warm summer sun shone down on the Malfoys back garden, where children were playing as their parents caught up over a drink. Hermione and Draco had also provided food for everyone, which had been wolfed down by the children.

"Is there anymore hotdogs left?" Ron questioned, looking at the table and finding nothing more than a few crumbs.

"Sorry Ron, I think the food's all gone," Hermione replied, giving her best friend an apologetic smile.

"Haven't you had enough?" Lavender asked her husband with a frown. "I saw you eat three hotdogs, and you finished the one Hugo left."

"I didn't want it to go to waste," Ron mumbled as he turned his attention away from the food.

"I appreciate it Ron," Hermione said. "I hate having to throw good food away."

Under her breath, Ginny made a rather rude comment about Ron's appetite, but Ron ignored his younger sister. Instead he turned his attention to the children, who were playing nearby. The children had split into two groups, the girls and the boys. Ron and Lavender's ten year old daughter, Rose, had taken charge of the girls and was organising it so they could sit in a circle and do each other's hair. Meanwhile Scorpius had taken the boys up into his tree house.

"It looks like Lyra doesn't want to play," Pansy said, stifling a laugh when Draco and Hermione's daughter threw Rose's hairbrush halfway across the lawn and stomped away from the group of giggling girls.

"She's not really very girly," Hermione said. She could understand why Lyra wasn't interested in playing hairdressers with the other girls, as that was something that never would have appealed to her when she was a child.

"Mum, I'm bored," Lyra whined as she made her way over to where the adults were sitting.

"Did you not want to get your hair styled like the others?" Ginny questioned. Like Hermione she could understand why Lyra wasn't keen on doing girly activities, as she herself had been much more of a tomboy growing up with all her brothers around.

"It's boring," Lyra answered, rolling her eyes in the same manner Draco did when he was unimpressed with something.

"You could always go and play with your brother," Hermione suggested.

"Maybe," Lyra said, looking thoughtfully towards the tree house.

Lyra sat for almost five minutes, before she got up and headed over to the treehouse. Climbing up the ladders, she poked her head inside her brother's tree house and found the boys sitting in a circle, trading chocolate frog cards.

"Can I join in?" She asked, clambering all the way into the spacious tree house.

"No," Scorpius answered without looking up. "Go away Lyra, this is boys stuff."

"But I can play with chocolate frog cards," Lyra protested, squeezing herself in between Alex and James. "Oh look, Uncle Harry," She cried, picking up the card that lay in the centre of the circle. "I haven't got Uncle Harry."

"Well, he's not for you," Scorpius snapped, plucking the card from his sister's grasp. "I'm trading Uncle Harry for Morgana."

"But you've got Morgana," Lyra pouted.

"Not a special edition one," Scorpius retorted, showing his sister the special edition card he was trying to get from Hugo.

"I need more than Uncle Harry though," Hugo replied thoughtfully. "I can't trade a special edition card for one normal card."

"I've got three Dumbledore's," Scorpius offered.

Hugo mulled over the offer and when Scorpius threw in another couple of common cards, he agreed to the exchange.

"Okay boys, let's finish this later," Scorpius said, packing the cards away and scowling at his little sister. "We'll go down to the lake to catch frogs."

"Can I come?" Lyra asked.

"No," Scorpius answered firmly. "Go and play with the girls Lyra."

Turning his back on his sister, Scorpius led the way down the emergency shoot at the back of the treehouse. The emergency shoot was really just a slide, but it was much more fun to exit the treehouse via a slide than climb down the ladders. Lyra watched with a pout as the boys all exited the treehouse, but the second they were gone she made her own way down the slide.

Clambering to her feet at the bottom of the slide, she spotted the boys running down towards the bottom of the garden where the duck pond was located. As well as ducks, the pond now held fish and frogs, and Scorpius would often go and see if he could catch a frog. Refusing to be brushed aside, Lyra followed after the boys.

"Lyra, go away," Scorpius snapped when he spotted his sister approaching them.

"No," Lyra said stubbornly. "I want to catch frogs."

"Girls can't catch frogs," Albus announced and all the other boys nodded in agreement.

"I can too catch frogs," Lyra declared.

Glaring at the boys, she stormed off around the other side of the pond. Settling down on the grass beside the pond, she watched as her brother and his friends tried to catch a frog. There was an abundance of frogs in the pond, and they often sat on the rocks around the edge of the pond, but they always hopped away whenever anyone got near to them. Lyra watched in amusement as the boys repeatedly tried and failed to catch a frog. After ten minutes both Hugo and Albus had fallen into the pond, and Scorpius, Alex and James were wet through as they helped them out.

"Let's go," Scorpius declared. "We can play some exploding snap."

Lyra watched the boys set off back towards the house, before she turned to a rock near to where she'd been sitting. For ages there'd been a little frog sitting on the rock, but since she hadn't bothered it, it hadn't hopped back to the safety of the water.

"Hello little frog," Lyra said softly. "I'm Lyra."

Lyra chatted to the frog for a few more minutes, before holding out her hand and the frog hopped on. With a small giggle, Lyra ran her finger down the frogs back. Still stroking the frog, Lyra got to her feet and made her way back up the garden to where everyone else was.

"What do you have there, Lyra?" Draco called, wondering what on earth his daughter had found now. Lyra was animal mad, and she was always finding animals and wanting them as a pet.

"This is Hamish," Lyra said, smiling at her father and showing him the small frog in her hands.

"Hamish?" Draco frowned. "How do you know he's called Hamish?"

"He told me, silly," Lyra giggled.

"Of course he did," Draco replied indulgently.

"What's going on?" Scorpius demanded, wondering what his annoying little sister was up to now. "Tell Lyra she can't play with us, Dad."

"I don't want to play with you," Lyra said, sticking her tongue out at her brother. "I've got Hamish to play with."

"Cool, a frog," Alex cried, suddenly spotting the small creature nestled quite happily in Lyra's hands.

"Wow, Lyra's caught a frog," Albus cried.

"Way to go, Lyra," James said with a grin.

"It's awesome," Hugo declared as the boys, all except Scorpius, gathered around Lyra to get a better look at her frog.

"How did you catch a frog?" Scorpius asked moodily. He'd been trying to catch a frog for years, and all he'd ever got was wet from falling into the pond.

"I was said hello and was nice to Hamish," Lyra answered.

"Sometimes it pays to be nice," Hermione whispered to her put out son.

"Annoying little brat," Scorpius grumbled as his friends fawned all over Lyra.

"You should have just let her play with you," Draco said with a laugh.

"But girls are boring," Scorpius whined. "And little sisters are annoying."

Watching Scorpius grumble about Lyra, Draco and Hermione couldn't help but laugh at their son. Most of the time he was a devoted big brother, but sometimes he was downright wicked towards his little sister. Maybe this adventure would teach him to play nice, and to include his little sister if she wanted to join in with him and his friends.


	16. Supermarket Torment

**Supermarket Torment.**

Taking her children grocery shopping was Hermione's worst nightmare, however things didn't always go to plan and Hermione found herself having to take her two children along when she did the weekly shop. The pair were supposed to be staying with her parents for the afternoon, but her father had spent the morning working in his garden shed and had accidentally superglued his fingers together, meaning a trip to the hospital for the pair of them. At such short notice, Hermione didn't have anyone else to ask for help, but she also couldn't avoid doing the shopping that day, unless her family were planning on not eating.

"I want the pair of you to behave," Hermione warned her son and daughter as she grabbed a trolley outside of the supermarket. Even though they lived in the wizarding world, Hermione preferred to do her shopping in the muggle world as in her opinion they had a wider range of food. "And I don't want to hear a constant stream of 'can I have'. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," Nine year old Scorpius muttered, frowning at the thought of shopping. He hated shopping at the best of times, but muggle supermarkets were just downright tedious.

"Lyra." Hermione turned to her seven year old daughter, wanting her reassurance that she would behave. Lyra was much easier going than her brother, but put together the pair could be a handful.

"I'll behave, Mum," Lyra promised, shooting her mother an angel like smile.

"Make sure you do," Hermione said as she led the way into the supermarket.

As the trio began to make their way around the supermarket, Hermione kept an eye on Scorpius and Lyra and was pleased to find they were behaving pretty well. However, what she didn't spot was Scorpius making faces at his little sister whenever her back was turned. Scorpius continued to goad his sister as they followed their mother, but Lyra steadfastly ignored him.

After half an hour Scorpius was getting increasingly frustrated that Lyra was ignoring him. Making sure their mother was busy looking at food, he poked his sister in the back. Lyra immediately whirled round to glare at him, but she still didn't say anything. When she turned back around, Scorpius pulled a face at her back before giving her another poke.

Turning round, Lyra fixed her brother with an icy glare. "Stop it," She warned, in a perfect replica of their mother's most strict voice.

"Stop it," Scorpius mimicked, pulling faces at his sister.

Instead of responding, Lyra once again turned away from her brother and carried on following Hermione around the shop. Behind Lyra, Scorpius kept up his poking and pulling faces at his sister.

"Stop it," Lyra repeated, once again sounding like Hermione as she glared at her brother.

Scorpius merely chuckled in response, and kept on tormenting his sister.

"I won't tell you again, stop it," Lyra said firmly.

"As if," Scorpius responded with a cheeky grin.

For the next ten minutes, Scorpius continued to torment his sister. For a while all Lyra did was glare at him, unwillingly to react and give him what he wanted. However, even Lyra's patience only went so far and when her brother poked her in the back yet again, she turned and gave him a threatening glare.

"You'll be in trouble when I tell, Mum," She said haughtily.

"You wouldn't," Scorpius said, narrowing his eyes at his little sister.

"Try me," Lyra retorted.

Scoffing at the thought of Lyra telling on him, Scorpius very deliberately reached out and poked his sister in the shoulder. Shaking her head in resignation, Lyra turned around and walked the few feet to where Hermione was standing picking some yogurts.

"Mum, can I help you?" Lyra asked, smirking at her brother who'd looked seriously worried when she'd approached Hermione.

"Cherry or peach?" Hermione asked, holding out her choices.

"Peach," Lyra answered. She loved peach yogurts, while she knew Scorpius preferred cherry.

"Peach it is," Hermione said, placing the yogurts in her trolley.

As they continued shopping, Lyra remained at Hermione's side and every time there was a decision to be made regarding food, she made sure to answer before Scorpius and pick the option her brother liked the least. By the end of the trip, the trolley was full of flavours Lyra preferred and held very little of Scorpius's favourites.

"I told you that you should have stopped poking me," Lyra crowed quietly when they reached the checkout. "Now there's no food you like."

"Sneak," Scorpius hissed. He would have much preferred that Lyra had just told on him, but instead she'd found a better way to get her revenge.

"Thank you." Lyra smirked in a very Draco like way as she acknowledged that she'd gotten one over on her brother.

"Come on you two," Hermione called, gathering the duo up as she finished packing her bags. "Since you were both so good, you can have a treat this afternoon. I bought some popcorn, so we can spend the afternoon watching films."

"Can we watch Beauty and the Beast first?" Lyra excitedly asked.

"Of course we can," Hermione replied.

However, what Hermione didn't notice was the triumphant look her daughter shot at her son. Yet again she'd jumped in before him and this time she ensured the film they were watching was one Scorpius considered to be a girly film. Next time, Scorpius would think twice before tormenting his sister when he was bored.


	17. Flying

**Flying.**

"I don't want to," Eight year old Lyra pouted.

Lyra was in the back garden with Scorpius. The ten year old had decided it was time to teach his little sister how to fly, but Lyra wasn't having any of it. Unlike Scorpius who was fascinated with flying and had learnt to fly when he was small, Lyra had no interest in learning how to fly. Lyra was very much like Hermione, and wasn't in the least bit interested in quidditch, brooms or flying.

"Every witch and wizard has to learn how to fly," Scorpius argued.

"Mum can't fly," Lyra shot back. Technically she knew Hermione could fly, she just didn't like to, but that argument didn't work as well as saying her mother couldn't fly.

"She had to take lessons in school though," Scorpius retorted. "You'll be starting Hogwarts in a few years, and you'll have to take flying lessons. It'll be easier if you can already fly."

"I'm not flying," Lyra insisted stubbornly. "Not now and not in school."

"You'll have no choice in school," Scorpius said.

"I will," Lyra replied, although she sounded much less sure of herself. "Mum can write me a note so I don't have to fly."

"It doesn't work like that, Lyra," Scorpius snorted. "I'm just trying to help you, but if you're not interested, I'll leave."

"Good," Lyra said, sitting down on the lush green lawn and folding her arms over her chest. "I'll stay here while you fly."

"You'll soon be begging me to teach you how to fly," Scorpius predicted as he jumped on his broom and shot up into the sky.

Not at all interested in watching her brother show off, Lyra collapsed back onto the grass. Lying staring up at the sky, she began to worry about what Scorpius had said. She'd never had any interest in learning how to fly, but what if he was right and they forced her onto a broom when she got to school. The last thing she wanted was to look stupid because she didn't know how to fly.

Reluctantly, Lyra sat up and caught her brother's attention. With a smug smirk, Scorpius expertly landed his broom in front of where she was sitting.

"I take it you want my help now," He said, his smirk growing wider.

"Only because I have to," Lyra grumbled. "I don't want people to laugh at me because I can't fly," She confessed in a small voice.

"No-one will laugh at you," Scorpius said protectively. "They wouldn't dare laugh at a Malfoy."

Lyra didn't doubt her brother for a second. By the time she started school in a few years, Scorpius would already have been at Hogwarts for a couple of years and she knew there was no way he would allow anyone to make fun of his little sister. Scorpius himself might like to tease her and make fun of her, but he wouldn't stand for anyone else doing the same thing.

"Come on Lyra, it's easy," Scorpius said, holding his hand out for his sister.

Lyra took hold of Scorpius's hand, and stepped closer to the parked broomstick. "Promise you won't let me fall."

"I promise," Scorpius vowed.

Slipping easily into the role of teacher, Scorpius showed Lyra the right way to mount a broom. The pair practiced mounting and dismounting several times, until Lyra finally felt comfortable on the stick of wood. With mounting and dismounting sorted, Scorpius turned his attention to making sure Lyra knew the best way to sit on the broom, and the best grip to use. Again, they practised for a while until Lyra felt comfortable enough to leave the ground.

"On the count of three, kick off from the ground," Scorpius ordered as he climbed onto the broom behind his little sister. "One, two, three."

On three Lyra hesitantly kicked off from the ground. The take-off wasn't the smoothest considering Lyra had put no force into her kick off, but the broom did lift off the ground. With Scorpius issuing directions to his sister, Lyra warily guided the broom around the back garden. They didn't go very fast or very high, but it was fast enough and high enough for Lyra.

"We can pick up speed if you want," Scorpius suggested, growing bored at how slow they were flying. His broom was still a child's broom and didn't reach the height and speed his father's did, but it could still perform pretty impressively for a child's broomstick.

"No," Lyra answered shakily. "No more speed." She was using all her concentration just to stay upright, adding more speed would only make things worse.

"Let's bring the broom back down to earth," Scorpius said after another few minutes of slow flying.

With Scorpius's guidance, Lyra brought the broom back towards the ground and stopped it with a shaky shudder. As quick as she could, Lyra jumped off the broom while Scorpius dismounted at a more leisurely pace.

"A few more lessons and you'll be great," Scorpius said to his little sister, giving her an encouraging smile.

"I don't want to be great," Lyra replied. "I hated the whole thing. I never want to get on a broom again."

"Look on the bright side, flying lessons are only for first years," Scorpius said. "By second year, you'll not have to fly again."

"I can't wait until I'm in second year," Lyra muttered as she thanked Scorpius and headed indoors.

Like her mother, flying just wasn't her thing. She was quite content to keep her feet on the ground and leave the flying to her father and brother.


	18. Shopping

**Shopping.**

Shopping had never been something Scorpius had ever liked, but he had no complaints about heading to Diagon Alley the day he was going to get his belongings for starting school. Finally Scorpius was about to go off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and he couldn't be more excited. After dropping Lyra off at the manor for the day, Hermione and Draco arrived in Diagon Alley with an excited Scorpius in tow.

"Where first?" Draco asked.

"Let's get robes first," Hermione instructed. She knew getting fitted for new robes would be the part Scorpius found the most tiresome so she figured they should get it over with as soon as possible.

Sure enough, getting fitted for his robes was a bore fest for Scorpius. He spent nearly twenty minutes getting fitted, and time had never seemed to pass so slowly. Finally he was finished, and while Hermione was finishing up sorting the payment and delivery of the robes, Draco took their son to get his wand.

"Ah, the young Mr Malfoy," Ollivander remarked as they entered the shop. "Is it time for you to start school, already?"

"It is," Scorpius replied politely.

Draco watched Scorpius and the old wand maker talking, amazed that Ollivander was still going strong. The old wizard had seemed ancient when Draco had started school years ago, and even with the amount of time wizards lived, he figured he had to be retiring sometime soon. However, Ollivander showed no signs of slowing down and winding his business up.

By the time Hermione entered the shop nearly ten minutes later, Scorpius was the proud owner of a wand. Eager to show his mother his new purchase, Scorpius waved the piece of wood in front of his mother.

"It looks like a good wand, Scorp," Hermione remarked.

"It's one of my finest," Ollivander said proudly. "Only the best can wield such a fine piece of craftsmanship. Mark my words, young Mr Malfoy will be a great wizard."

Scorpius preened at the compliment while his parents settled up the bill. Leaving the wand makers, the family headed over to Flourish and Blotts. Wanting to look at a few books for herself, Hermione gave the list of required reading to Scorpius and Draco and headed off on her own. Fifteen minutes later they met up at the doorway, with all their purchases.

"Did you get everything?" Hermione checked.

"Every last one," Draco reassured his wife.

"Let's go and get a cauldron, and the other bits and pieces," Hermione said, leading the way across the street.

An hour later, Scorpius had everything on his school list. The only thing missing was a pet, and Scorpius was unsure about what he wanted. For a long time he looked at the owls, but the family already owned a few owls and he knew Hogwarts also had a supply of the birds. What he really wanted was something different.

"If you don't want an owl, what do you want?" Draco asked his son. Officially the only other options were a cat or a toad, but he knew that other pets would be allowed. As long as they were nothing too crazy, of course.

"I don't know," Scorpius replied with a shrug. "Can we go to the pet emporium?"

Heading to the pet emporium, the Malfoys looked over their son's choices. Toads and cats were readily available, but the emporium did carry other pets. Scorpius admired the snakes, until Hermione firmly steered her son away from the slippery creatures.

"These are cute," Scorpius remarked, pointing at a cage of ferrets.

"No, they're not," Draco grumbled, turning away from the cage. It always bugged him that ferrets were now considered a cool pet for young witches and wizards.

"What about an iguana?" Scorpius asked, turning his attention to another pet after his father had dismissed ferrets.

"I'm not sure an iguana is suitable for school," Hermione said.

"Okay, a komodo dragon," Scorpius said, pointing to yet another option.

"No lizards," Hermione said. "How about a tortoise?" She asked, spotting some baby tortoises in a glass tank.

"Don't they grow up to be really big?" Draco hissed at his wife.

"It depends on the breed," Hermione answered, reading the information beside the tortoises.

"I suppose they are pretty cool," Scorpius said, watching the small creatures slowly crawling about their tank.

After a look at the few other pets available, Scorpius returned to the tortoises. Picking one of the babies, Scorpius set about grabbing everything they would need to raise a baby tortoise.

"This is a hell of a lot of stuff," Draco muttered to Hermione as Scorpius piled his purchases up on the counter. "Do we really need a tortoise?"

"What do you suggest, sending Scorp off to Hogwarts with one of the ducks?" Hermione shot back. The two ducklings they'd acquired years ago had bred, and they now had an entire family of ducks living in their back garden. Although, Hermione had made sure they removed the duck flap, with the amount of ducks in their back garden she wasn't having them traipsing around her house.

"He should have gone with an owl," Draco groaned as Hermione paid for the tortoise and all its bits.

"Owls are boring Dad," Scorpius said as they exited the shop and Draco was still complaining. "I bet I'm the only person at school to have a tortoise."

Sure enough Scorpius was right, and when it came time to starting school he was the only one with a tortoise. Since the tortoise was so unique, everyone wanted to have a look. By the end of Scorpius's first year at Hogwarts, Salazar the tortoise was the mascot of Slytherin house and even had his own bed in the corner of the common room.


	19. Left Behind

**Left Behind.**

September the first dawned with the two Malfoy children waking up in very different moods. Scorpius couldn't wait and get up so they could head to the train station for him to catch the Hogwarts Express for the first time. He was about to start Hogwarts, and he couldn't be more excited. However his younger sister Lyra, was less than enthusiastic about the day ahead. She also wanted to go off to Hogwarts, and she was unimpressed that she was being left behind.

Over breakfast, it became clear that Scorpius and Lyra's attitudes were mirrored by their parents. Draco was almost as excited as his son, and the two wizards spent the entire meal talking about the fun Scorpius would have over the next seven years. Hermione was much more subdued as she dealt with her son heading off to school. She wanted Scorpius to have the time of his life at Hogwarts, but she couldn't help but feel slightly sad about the fact her little boy was grown up and heading off to boarding school.

"Come on, we need to get going if we want to be on time," Draco said the second breakfast was over.

"Have you got everything, Scorpius?" Hermione checked.

"Yeah," Scorpius replied.

"Go and make sure," Hermione ordered her son. "I don't want you forgetting anything."

While Draco headed off with Scorpius to check everything was packed, Lyra wandered into the front room and collapsed onto the sofa. Leaving the dishes until later, Hermione followed her daughter to check she was okay.

"Why can't I go to Hogwarts, Mum?" Lyra asked with a pout. "I want to go to Hogwarts."

"You will," Hermione said to her daughter as she sat down next to her. "You'll be going soon enough."

"Yeah, in two years," Lyra muttered.

"It'll come round soon enough," Hermione promised. She didn't know what she would do with herself in two years' time when both her children were off at school.

"I'm going to miss Scorp," Lyra confessed quietly.

"I know sweetheart," Hermione said, pulling her daughter into a hug. "I'm going to miss him too, but he'll be back for Christmas."

"That's ages away," Lyra said moodily.

"He's not going to forget about you," Hermione reassured her daughter. Even though Lyra hadn't expressed any worries about Scorpius forgetting about her, Hermione suspected her daughter was scared in case Scorpius going off to Hogwarts would ruin their close bond. "You'll always be his little sister, and nothing will change that."

Lyra nodded, but didn't get a chance to respond before Draco and Scorpius entered the room. Scorpius was carrying his tortoise tank and dragging his trunk behind him, and his excitement at starting Hogwarts was evident for everyone to see. Even Lyra and Hermione couldn't help but smile at Scorpius's enthusiasm as he hurried them up. Both witches might be going to miss Scorpius when he was gone, but they couldn't help but be pleased he was so happy.

"Come on, let's go," Draco called when everyone was ready.

Hermione took hold of Lyra's hand, while Draco grabbed hold of Scorpius's arm. With two simultaneous cracks the adults apparated their children directly to platform nine and three quarters. The platform was already bustling with students and parents, and the two Malfoy children looked around in awe. They'd both heard plenty of stories about Hogwarts as they'd grown up, and they could hardly believe they were on the platform where the fun would begin.

"Let's get your trunk on board and see if we can find Alex," Draco said to Scorpius.

Within five minutes of arriving at the train station, they'd located Scorpius's best friend. While Scorpius and Alex got themselves sorted on the train, Blaise and Draco stood reminiscing about their first journey on the Hogwarts Express. Hermione and Daphne meanwhile were sharing their thoughts about their sons going away, while Lyra stood beside her parents watching the train with a sad expression on her face.

"We've just came to say bye," Scorpius announced as he and Alex hopped back off the train and wandered over to their parents.

"The train doesn't leave for another ten minutes," Daphne pointed out.

"Yeah, but we met a couple of cool lads on the train," Alex told his mother. "We're all going to share a compartment."

"Let them go and make friends," Blaise said.

"Be good," Hermione said to her son as she pulled him into a hug, despite Scorpius's protests that she was embarrassing him.

Wriggling out of his mother's grasp, Scorpius vowed to behave. After saying goodbye to his father, he promised his parents he would write regularly before he turned to his little sister. Lyra was still standing with a sad expression on her face and Scorpius wished he didn't have to leave her behind.

"I'll be back before you know it," He whispered as he hugged Lyra. "You'll enjoy the peace and quiet with me gone."

"True," Lyra said with a smile. "You are rather noisy."

"Don't worry, I'll make up for it in the holidays," Scorpius grinned down at his little sister. "I promise to be as loud and annoying as possible in the holidays."

"In that case don't come back," Lyra joked. Sharing a smile with her brother, the mood then turned serious again. "I'm going to miss you, Scorp."

"I'll miss you too, Lyra," Scorpius said quietly. "Be good."

"I'm always good," Lyra shot back, his smile reappearing. "You're the one who needs warning to be good."

"Where's the fun in being good?" Scorpius asked with a wink. "It's much more entertaining to be bad."

"Bye Scorpius," Lyra said, laughing lightly at her brother. No doubt he'd end up in trouble numerous times over the course of his school career, although he probably had enough charm to talk his way out of most things.

Saying a final goodbye to his family, Scorpius joined Alex and the two eleven year olds headed onto the train. Lyra watched her brother disappear onto the red engine with mixed feelings. She was pleased Scorpius was looking forward to going to school, but she hated being left behind. The next two years couldn't pass quick enough for Lyra. She couldn't wait to be joining her brother on the trip up to Hogwarts.


	20. Platform Nine and Three Quarters

**Platform Nine and Three Quarters.**

As usual Platform Nine and Three Quarters was bustling with students and parents as the Malfoys arrived with their children. This year was Lyra's first year at Hogwarts, and Hermione was slightly subdued at the thought of sending both her children off to school. It had been hard enough to say goodbye to Scorpius, but now her little girl was leaving as well.

"Don't look so morose," Draco chided his wife. "They'll be back before we know it."

"I guess so," Hermione sighed. "But December seems so far away."

"The time will fly," Draco reassured his wife, wrapping his arm around her waist and giving her a deep kiss.

"Stop that," Scorpius hissed, scowling at his parents. "It's embarrassing."

"What's embarrassing?" Hermione asked with a grin as Draco made a show of dropping his hand to her backside and giving her bum a squeeze.

"I'm so pleased to be going back to school," Scorpius muttered.

"You should be pleased your parents are happy," Draco told his son.

"Happy is one thing, randy is another matter altogether," Scorpius retorted.

Draco and Hermione chuckled as Scorpius spotted Alex across the platform and raced off to talk to his best friend. Lyra meanwhile was looking nervously around the platform.

"Are you ready, princess?" Draco asked.

"I guess so," Lyra replied quietly. Normally she was pretty confident, but it was scary leaving home to attend boarding school.

"It'll be fine," Hermione reassured her daughter. "You'll have Scorp to look out for you, and Faith is also starting school this year."

"Scorpius told me to stay away from him and Alex," Lyra said. "He doesn't want a little sister cramping his style."

"What style, he's thirteen?" Hermione asked with a snort. "It's not as if he's bothered about girls yet."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Draco said with a laugh. "At thirteen I was starting to notice girls. In fact I had my first kiss in third year."

"I don't want to hear about your exploits back in Hogwarts," Hermione told her husband, shooting him an unimpressed glare before turning to her daughter. "Don't worry Lyra, I'm sure Scorpius didn't mean it."

"I'm not bothered," Lyra answered with an unconcerned shrug. "I don't need a big brother cramping my style."

Chuckling at their independent daughter, Draco and Hermione helped her get her trunk onto the train. Lyra was carrying her pet carrier that contained her grey half Kneazle, Rufus, and she refused to be parted from the animal.

"Make sure you write and let us know how you're settling in," Hermione said to her daughter as she gave her a hug.

"I will," Lyra promised as she hugged both her mother and father. "I'll let you know what house I'm sorted into."

"I can tell you that now, you're a Slytherin through and through," Draco said with an affectionate laugh.

"Do you think so?" Lyra asked happily. Apart from her mother her entire family were Slytherins, and even though she felt bad that no-one would be taking after Hermione and being sorted into Gryffindor, she wanted to be a Slytherin.

"Absolutely," Hermione said, agreeing with her husband. "You, my darling, are most definitely your father's daughter. You were born to be a Slytherin."

"And you don't mind?" Lyra checked. "Would you not rather I was a Gryffindor."

"I've known for a long time that I wouldn't get any children in Gryffindor," Hermione said. "You and Scorpius are both too much like your father and grandfather."

"You can have your Slytherin moments," Draco said to his wife. "I think you would have been a great Slytherin."

"Yeah, if I wasn't a muggleborn," Hermione retorted.

"It was Slytherin's loss," Draco said, dropping a kiss to the top of Hermione's head.

"Are you two still at it?" Scorpius cried as he approached his family with the Zabinis and Notts in tow.

"What's going on?" Pansy asked as Faith rushed over to Lyra and the two girls began gossiping about their upcoming adventures at Hogwarts.

"Scorpius thinks we're embarrassing," Draco answered.

"I don't think it I know it," Scorpius muttered. "Come on Alex, let's grab a compartment before the little newbies try and steal them all."

Saying their goodbyes, Scorpius and Alex hurried onto the train. Lyra and Faith took longer to say goodbye to their parents, before they also headed onto the train to grab seats. As they waited for the train to depart, they were joined by the Potters and the Weasleys, who were seeing their children off. Now they were down to two children yet to start Hogwarts, Harry and Ginny's youngest, Lily, and Theo and Pansy's second daughter, Angelica.

"And they're off for another year," Blaise remarked with a grin as the train began to pull out of the station. "Now I can walk around the house naked again."

"Remind me not to pop by unannounced," Pansy drawled. "Seeing you naked is not my idea of fun."

"You should try it, you might like it," Blaise said, winking at his friend's wife.

"You're forgetting I've already seen you naked, Blaise," Pansy replied. "And it does nothing for me."

"That doesn't count," Blaise protested. "I was cold, you didn't get the full effect."

"When did you see Blaise naked?" Ginny asked Pansy. In all the years they'd been friends with the Slytherins, she didn't know that Pansy had once seen Blaise naked.

"Back in school," Pansy answered. "It was sixth year I think. He was with a girl in the quidditch stadium and Snape almost caught them. Blaise and the girl managed to hide, but Blaise didn't manage to grab his clothes. He had to sneak back to the dungeons naked, and I bumped into him on the way. It was so funny."

"It wasn't funny for me," Blaise grumbled. "I nearly got frostbite on my balls."

"It serves you right for shagging girls in the cold," Daphne sniffed at her husband.

"I learnt my lesson," Blaise argued. "We stayed indoors next time."

Laughing at their friend's colourful teenage behaviour, the couples said their goodbyes and headed home. Returning back to a quite house, Hermione was once again hit by the realisation that both her children were gone. Luckily, Draco was able to take her mind of things and the pair spent the day making the most of having the house to themselves.


	21. Advice

**Advice.**

Fourteen year old Scorpius hovered outside of his father's study. It was the middle of the Christmas holidays, and he'd deliberately waited until his mother had taken his sister out shopping before deciding to approach his father. He was after some advice on the romantic front, and he figured Draco would be the ideal person to talk to.

Plucking up his courage, Scorpius knocked on the door. Almost immediately Draco called for him to enter. Pushing open the door, Scorpius headed into his father's study.

"Hey Scorp," Draco greeted, looking up and smiling at his son. "What can I do for you?"

"Can we talk?" Scorpius asked hesitantly.

Draco nodded and placed his quill down on his desk. "I'm all yours. What do you want to talk about?"

"I need some advice," Scorpius admitted as he settled down in front of Draco's desk.

"What on?" Draco asked, wondering if his son was having trouble with his school work. Scorpius was actually very bright and Draco had never known him to have a problem with his school work, but he was advancing in his years at school and the work did become harder.

"Girls."

Draco waited for Scorpius to elaborate further, but his son said nothing more. "I need more details, if I'm going to help you Scorp. Are we talking girls in general, or one specific girl?"

"One girl," Scorpius answered.

"So what exactly do you want advice on?" Draco asked warily. He didn't mind giving his son general advice on the opposite sex, but he wasn't exactly looking forward to giving him a talk about the responsibilities of sex.

"How do I ask her out?" Scorpius asked.

"First of all, tell me about this girl," Draco urged.

"Her name's Rochelle," Scorpius answered. "She's a Ravenclaw in my year. She's also the hottest girl in our year. We did a Transfiguration project together before Christmas, and we got along really well."

"That means you've already got a solid base to start from," Draco said. "My advice is to ask her out very casually. One time when you're talking to her, ask her if she wants to go into Hogsmeade with you."

"What if she says no?" Scorpius asked. "I would die of embarrassment."

"That's why you do it casually," Draco replied. "Don't make it sound like a date, make it sound like you're asking her as a friend. If she says no, then you just say she might want to join you and your friends another time."

"But what if she say yes, and doesn't realise it's a date?" Scorpius questioned.

"If she's unsure, she'll check with you what you mean. And if she doesn't check, treat it as a date. If she's shocked when there's only the two of you going to Hogsmeade, tell her you thought she knew you meant a date."

"Is this how you got Mum to date you?" Scorpius questioned. His father's advice seemed a bit sneaky, and he had to wonder if he'd pulled the same tricks on his mother.

"It is actually," Draco replied with a fond smile. "Although it did take me months to pluck up the courage to ask her. For weeks I would talk to her and end up chickening out. That's when I came up with the whole Hogsmeade idea. That way, if she said no, I would have been able to pretend I'd just meant going to the village as friends."

"But she didn't say no."

"No, she didn't. She jumped at the chance to go to Hogsmeade with me," Draco replied. "In actual fact it was your mother that reiterated that it was a date. She said yes, but then said she would only accompany me if it was a proper date."

"So I guess the approach is sound," Scorpius mused. "Now, how do I approach her?"

"Are you friendly with her?"

"Yeah."

"Then subtly drop it into conversation one time," Draco advised. "Remember, don't make a big deal out of it."

"So what do I do when we're at Hogsmeade?" Scorpius questioned, moving onto his second dilemma. "I don't want to have to go to that horrible little tea room that's full of all that romantic crap."

"Don't go there," Draco warned with a grimace. "Believe me, you don't want a girl that thinks that place is nice and romantic. Just wander the shops and talk. Maybe take her to The Three Broomsticks and buy her lunch. If there's a connection between you, you'll find plenty to talk about."

"So if the date to Hogsmeade goes well, what other dates can I take her on?" Scorpius asked. "We're pretty restricted being at school twenty four hours a day."

"That's where you've got to use your imagination, Scorp," Draco said. "Have a picnic in the grounds, or even just go for a walk. Go up to the Astronomy Tower and do some stargazing. Take her for a romantic fly on your broom, and I'm not speaking in metaphors there," He added, knowing exactly where his mind would have taken him at fourteen. "I'm sure you can also think of a few more things to do as well."

Scorpius nodded thoughtfully, his mind dwelling on the advice his father had given him. Now he just had to build up the courage to ask the girl he fancied out. Although he did like Draco's idea of making the request seem casual, if she said no he would still be hurt, but the casual nature of the request might soften the blow a bit.

"Let me know how you get on," Draco said as his son got to his feet. "And don't worry Scorp, it's always harder to ask a girl out the first time. After that, it's a doddle."

"I thought you said it took you months to pluck up the courage to ask Mum out?" Scorpius frowned.

"It did," Draco replied.

"But she wasn't the first girl you asked out," Scorpius pointed out. "You're forgetting, I know all about your reputation at school. You had plenty of girlfriends before dating Mum."

"Your Mother was different," Draco said. "I'd dated a few girls, not as many as you might think by the way. Asking them out had been easy as it wouldn't have mattered if they'd rejected me. But it mattered with your Mother. I really liked her, and it would have hurt if she'd turned me down. Apart from the first girl I ever asked out, your mother was the only other one I was nervous about."

"Who was the first girl you ever asked out?" Scorpius asked with a mischievous smirk. He knew for a fact that his father's first girlfriend was Pansy, but it was something that was never discussed in his parent's circle of friends.

"That's not important," Draco answered. "What's important is that I asked your mother out, and she said yes. Now go and plan how you're going to get the girl."

"Thanks Dad," Scorpius called as he exited the study and headed off back to his room to think about the advice he'd received. He just hoped his father's words of wisdom worked.

Of course Draco's advice worked perfectly, and within weeks of going back to school, Scorpius landed himself a date with the witch he fancied. While that relationship didn't work out, it gave Scorpius plenty of confidence with asking other girls out, and after his first time, he wasn't ever nervous when he asked a girl out.


	22. Telling Tales

**Telling Tales.**

Having her children home from Hogwarts always brightened Hermione's mood, especially when they were home for the summer holidays. It now meant she could spend a couple of months with her children, rather than having to keep in touch via letters. She could really talk to both Scorpius and Lyra, and make sure they were both okay and nothing was bothering them.

On their first night back home, Hermione always made a big dinner and the family all settled down to spend the evening together, and Scorpius and Lyra could fill them in one what they'd been up to over the course of the year. The tradition had started when Scorpius first started Hogwarts, four years ago. Now Scorpius had just finished his fourth year and Lyra had just completed her second.

"Did you have fun this year?" Draco asked as the family ate.

"Yeah, we won the quidditch cup again," Scorpius replied with a grin. He and Alex were chasers on the team, and in his opinion they were the reason their team was so good.

"Excellent," Draco grinned. He always liked to hear that Slytherin were beating the other houses, especially Gryffindor.

"And what about your studies?" Hermione asked. "Are you both doing okay in your lessons?"

"Of course," Scorpius replied breezily. "They're a doddle."

"I finished top of the year again," Lyra offered. She was every bit as bright as her parents and had soon established herself as the top student in her year.

"That's great Lyra," Hermione said with a proud smile.

"Have you thought about what lessons to take next year?" Draco asked. Since Lyra would be entering third year, she could take up a few extra lessons.

"I want to do Arithmancy and Ancient Runes," Lyra replied. "And of course, Care of Magical Creatures. I'm going to need good marks in that if I want to become a medi-vet."

"You don't have to decide on a career just yet," Hermione said with a laugh. "You've still got a few more years of school to go, you could change your mind dozens of times."

"I won't," Lyra replied confidently. "I'm going to be a medi-vet."

"I'm going to be a quidditch player," Scorpius announced, not wanting to be outdone by his little sister.

"I thought you wanted to join the family company," Draco said. Just last summer Scorpius had spent several days at Malfoy Holdings and seemed keen to join his father and grandfather in the family business.

"I can do that afterwards," Scorpius replied with a shrug. "Or maybe at the same time."

"You can leave career choices for another few years," Hermione said. She knew Scorpius changed his mind like the wind and chances were when he did finish school, he would have a completely different career path in mind.

"You should take Muggle Studies and Divination," Scorpius advised his sister, leaving the career conversation behind.

"Why would I take Muggle Studies and Divination?" Lyra asked with a frown. "Divination is a pile of old rubbish, and I know all about muggles."

"But that gives you an edge," Scorpius said. "You'd know everything in Muggle Studies, so you could spend the lessons relaxing. And as for Divination, you just make crap up and get praised for it. I've heard that as long as you predict happy things that Professor Patil gives you great marks."

"Sounds like Parvati is the opposite of Trelawney," Draco chuckled. "For her it was all doom and gloom that got the good marks."

"Parvati is a much more positive person," Hermione said. "But I disagree with taking a subject because you think it's going to be easy."

"Me too," Lyra said with a nod. "I want to earn my grades."

"Suit yourself," Scorpius muttered. "I was just being helpful."

"If your advice was so helpful, you would have taken those subjects yourself," Lyra retorted. "But you didn't pick either Divination or Muggle Studies. You just don't like the idea that my grades might be better than yours."

"I couldn't care less what grades you get," Scorpius shot back. "I was just suggesting ways in which you could lighten up and not take things so seriously."

"School work should be taken seriously," Lyra replied haughtily.

"Quite right, Lyra," Hermione agreed. "And don't you pretend you don't take your work seriously, Scorpius. You picked subjects that you had to work hard in, and all your grades are really good."

"Pity his behaviour doesn't match," Lyra snorted. "He's always in trouble."

"Lyra," Scorpius hissed, attempting to kick his sister under the table. However, Lyra knew what was coming and had tucked her legs well under her chair, meaning they were out of Scorpius's reach.

"And what sort of trouble has your brother been in?" Hermione asked. "And don't think of covering for him. We're having dinner with Severus next week, and he'll tell us everything about the pair of you."

"He'll have plenty to tell you," Lyra supplied with a wicked smirk. "Scorpius had at least three detentions that I know of with Uncle Severus."

"And how did you earn these detentions?" Draco asked his son.

"It wasn't my fault, none of it," Scorpius protested. "I swear, I'm completely innocent."

"You gave Uncle Severus long hair," Lyra said, laughing at the memories. "It took it a week to get back to normal."

"What happened?" Draco asked, an amused smirk playing around his lips.

With a sigh, Scorpius told the story of how he and Alex had gotten distracted in potions and accidentally added a couple of extra porcupine quills to a hair growing potion. When the potion had started to bubble and Snape had come to check out what was happening, it had exploded in his face, resulting in his hair growing all the way down the floor. He'd then had to wait for the potion to wear off, which took a week.

"How did you get distracted?" Draco asked once he'd finished laughing at his son's story.

"We just did," Scorpius answered with a shrug.

"I know how," Lyra said in a sing-song voice. "The girl in front of them dropped her quill and when she bent down to retrieve it they could see up her skirt. Scorpius and Alex were so distracted by the girl's underwear that they added too many quills to their potion."

"How do you know that?" Scorpius questioned in a hiss.

"We're in the same house, people talk," Lyra replied with a snort. "I know everything you get up to. Including the incident in Herbology when you got bit on the bum by a snapping crocus and had to go to the hospital wing to get it treated."

"Bloody hell," Scorpius muttered, dropping his head into his hands as his parents laughed at the story Lyra told about how he'd gotten too close to the snapping crocuses and had ended up getting a chunk torn out of his trousers and boxers.

"Plants with teeth are dangerous," Draco said through his laughter. "I almost lost a finger to a mandrake in second year."

"That's because you were teasing it," Hermione said with an unimpressed tut. "Professor Sprout clearly said to watch our fingers, but you had to put your finger into its mouth. You were just showing off."

"Me, showing off?" Draco questioned, looking the picture of innocence. "I'm not that sort of person."

"Of course not," Hermione said, laughing alongside both her children. They all knew that Draco loved nothing better than to show off.

"So, any more stories to share?" Draco asked his children.

"I don't think so," Lyra said with a shake of her head.

"Ooh, how about Albus and Hugo almost getting drowned by the giant squid," Scorpius said. "That was a laugh."

"If they almost drowned, how was that funny?" Hermione frowned. "They're your friends."

"Scorp is exaggerating," Lyra said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm sure the giant squid wasn't going to hurt either of them."

"So what happened?" Draco asked.

"Albus and Hugo were throwing rocks into the lake to try and catch the squid's attention," Scorpius explained. "They were hoping it would splash some first years that were right on the edge of the lake, but instead it reached out and grabbed the pair of them. They were then waved about in the air for a few minutes, before the squid dunked them into the lake and threw them back onto the grass. They ended up soaking wet and they got detention for a week off Professor Longbottom."

"I guess it does serve them right for provoking the squid," Hermione said.

"Crabbe and Goyle used to feed the squid," Draco said, smiling at the memory. "At least they did until fifth year when they gave him a piece of fruit that it was allergic to and it gave the squid the runs. Professor Dumbledore banned them from feeding it after that."

"How did they know the squid had the runs?" Scorpius asked.

"I don't think we need an answer to that," Hermione interrupted. "At least not over dinner. Until we've finished eating, we can carry on talking about the rest of your year. I'm sure you have more stories about quidditch, Scorp."

Grinning eagerly Scorpius launched into a tale about the first match of the season. While Scorpius and Draco talked quidditch, Hermione and Lyra turned their attention back to lessons and how Lyra was performing academically.

After dinner the family moved into the front room, where they continued to laugh and chat together. Sitting beside Draco, Hermione couldn't help but smile at the sight of her two children sharing stories of their adventures at Hogwarts. While she was pleased her children were enjoying Hogwarts, nothing beat having them at home.


	23. Double Trouble

**A/N - I just want to thank everyone for their wonderful reviews for this story. I'm glad people are enjoying these little snippets. This is the longest snippet in the set, and one of my favourite ones. I hope people enjoy, and thanks again for the reviews.**

* * *

 **Double Trouble.**

Draco was in his study at home on a Friday afternoon when his wife entered carrying a letter in her hand and looking annoyed. The kids had been back at school about a month and Draco was hoping to finish his work early so he could whisk Hermione away for the weekend, but judging from the expression on his wife's face something had happened that was about to derail his plans.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked.

"It's your son," Hermione replied, handing Draco the letter she was carrying. "He's in trouble. Again."

Draco knew the second Hermione referred to Scorpius as his son, that their oldest child had gotten himself into another situation at school. Whenever Scorpius displayed his mischievous Slytherin side, Hermione always referred to him as Draco's son. Of course Draco always argued that Scorpius had inherited a fair bit of his rebellious nature from Hermione herself. Even though his wife had been a Gryffindor in school, she hadn't been opposed to getting into trouble with her two best friends. In fact Draco reckoned the Gryffindor trio had gotten into far more trouble than he and his friends had ever done.

"McGonagall doesn't say what he's done," Draco remarked, quickly reading the letter from the Headmistress of Hogwarts.

"No, but she wants to see us today so it must be something big," Hermione replied with a sigh. "I swear, if he gets himself expelled I'm going to kill him."

"I'm sure that's not going to happen," Draco reassured his wife. "Whatever he's done, it can't be that bad."

"Let's hope not," Hermione muttered as she turned and stalked out of her husband's study.

Draco sighed as his plans for a peaceful weekend with his wife vanished before his eyes. No matter what Scorpius had done, Draco was going to kill him for messing up his weekend. Now he would have to spend the weekend dealing with an irate wife, instead of spending it with a happy and contented one.

Quickly tidying away in his study, Draco headed to the bedroom and quickly changed before joining his wife in the front room. At the appropriate time the couple activated the floo network and one by one they flooed to the Headmistresses office at Hogwarts.

When the Malfoys arrived at Hogwarts the Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, was waiting to greet them. Also present in the Headmistresses office was the deputy head and Draco's godfather, Severus Snape. Neither Draco nor Hermione were that surprised to see Severus as he still served as head of Slytherin house, which of course was where Scorpius had been sorted upon his arrival at school.

"I hope we're not dealing with anything too serious," Hermione said as McGonagall ushered them into seats.

"Before we discuss anything, I think we should wait for the other set of parents to arrive," McGonagall said. "Then we can call the boys in and discuss this."

"Let's guess, we're waiting for Blaise and Daphne," Draco said. It made perfect sense that his son had gotten into trouble with his best friend, Alex, as together the pair were very capable of causing mayhem.

"Of course," Severus answered.

Within a few minutes Blaise and Daphne stepped from the fireplace and sheepishly took seats next to Hermione and Draco. With all the parents present and McGonagall sitting sternly behind her desk, Severus walked over to the door and ushered in the two sixth years the meeting was about. Scorpius and Alex entered the room looking confident, but one look at their gathered parents had them gulping and sharing worried looks.

"Sit down boys." McGonagall ordered the pair. She waited for the two students to take their seats, before she spoke again. "Would either of you care to tell your parents what you've been up to?"

To no-one's surprise, Scorpius and Alex both shook their heads. The two boys rarely confessed to their misdeeds, it was usually left to someone else to explain what the pair had been up to.

"Severus, would you care to explain?" McGonagall asked her deputy.

"Scorpius and Alex have been caught using polyjuice potion," Severus told the two couples. "It turns out all term they've been posing as each other to deal with certain situations."

"What situations?" Hermione asked.

"Last week Scorpius had detention with Professor Longbottom," Severus answered. "He also happened to have a previous engagement with a girl on the same night. Alex took some polyjuice potion and served the detention posing as Scorpius, while he was on his date."

"If that happened a week ago, why are we only being informed now?" Daphne questioned.

"They actually got away with that," McGonagall answered. "Unfortunately they were caught earlier today, and they confessed everything to Professor Snape."

"And what were they up to today?" Draco asked his godfather. Even though Scorpius and Severus were close, he doubted Scorpius would have willingly confessed all their past misdemeanours, meaning his godfather had probably used underhand tactics to earn a confession.

"I caught Scorpius coming out of a broom cupboard with a girl," Severus answered. "As I was giving him a lecture on inappropriate use of school equipment, he began to change into Alex."

"I told you that Ravenclaw was bad news," Scorpius hissed to his best friend. "If you hadn't gotten distracted by her, you would have been back in the dorms before the potion wore off."

"Sorry but she was hot," Alex smirked wickedly. "She's never shown any interest in me, she's got a thing for blonds and I just couldn't resist."

"Well Mr Zabini, you should learn to control your urges," McGonagall said sternly. "And you and Mr Malfoy should also know not to mess with polyjuice potion."

"Sorry Professor," Scorpius said quietly, doing his best to look contrite.

"Sorry isn't good enough," McGonagall retorted. "The pair of you will serve detention with me until Christmas, and I want to know where you got the potion from. Did you make it, or did you steal it?"

"We brewed it over the holidays," Alex admitted.

"Planning ahead, how sneaky," Severus remarked. Even though he tried to hide his admiration everyone in the room knew he was actually quite impressed by the deviousness of the two sixth years.

"There'll be no more of this," McGonagall announced. "If I catch either of you using polyjuice potion again, there will be serious consequences. In fact if either of you get into any more trouble this side of Christmas, you will regret it."

"But that's not fair," Alex protested. "What if we get into trouble and it's not our fault?"

"As if that's ever going to happen," Draco snorted. "More likely the pair of you will drag some innocent person into your trouble making schemes."

"Alex, Scorpius, you can return to your class now," McGonagall announced as Scorpius shot his father an unimpressed glare at his crack about them being the cause of any trouble.

"We're so sorry, Minerva," Hermione said apologetically once the two boys had left the office. "I promise nothing like this will ever happen again."

"I'm sure it won't." McGonagall smiled at her former student. "Normally, I wouldn't have called you four to see me, but using polyjuice potion in school is not acceptable. Luckily it appears their exploits extends to doing detentions for one another and helping each other out with girls, but I can't take the risk that things take an academic turn. We both know Scorpius and Alex are bright boys, and they could make a fortune charging lesser students for help in exams or vital lessons."

"We completely understand, and I assure you Scorpius will be severely punished when he comes home at Christmas," Draco vowed.

"As will Alex," Blaise added.

"Hopefully seeing you're involved and are fully aware of the situation will be enough to deter them from ever doing anything like this again," McGonagall said. "I would hate to have to suspend the boys, but sometimes they just take things a bit too far."

The four parents agreed fully with McGonagall and after apologising one final time they prepared to head home. Before they left Draco invited Blaise and Daphne to return to their house so everyone flooed back to the Malfoys. The two couples arrived back in Hermione and Draco's front room, and no sooner had both Draco and Blaise alighted from the fire than they took one look at each other and burst into laughter.

"What is so funny?" Hermione asked. With the two men still laughing she got no joy so she turned to Daphne, who seemed just as bewildered as she was.

"I have no idea," Daphne said to Hermione.

"Did you tell them?" Blaise asked Draco, through his laughter.

"No." Draco shook his head as he started to calm down. "I assumed you told them."

"Told who what?" Hermione demanded, looking between her husband and his best friend.

"That trick with the polyjuice potion," Blaise answered. "Draco and I used to do the same thing in school. The second I heard what had happened, I thought Draco had told Scorpius which was where the idea had come from."

"I thought the same thing," Draco said. "I thought Blaise had been telling Alex about our exploits in school."

"You two used to do the same thing," Daphne said, before her face contorted into horror as she realised the implications behind the revelation. She and Blaise had gotten together in seventh year, like Draco and Hermione had done, and she wouldn't be impressed to find some of her dates had been with Draco. Nor did she think Hermione would appreciate it if Blaise had been posing as Draco with her. "You better not have ever used that trick on me." She warned her husband.

"Of course not," Blaise reassured his wife. "The couple of times I was stupid enough to land a detention when I had plans with you, Draco would cover for me in detention. We never did anything with girls when we were posing as each other."

"Actually, I once told Hermione she looked sexy," Draco confessed. "It wasn't until she looked at me strange that I remembered I still looked like you."

"I remember that," Hermione said. "I was just exiting the library when you approached me. I was totally baffled by the fact my boyfriend's best friend had just called me sexy and slapped me on my bum."

"Is that why you ignored me for a week?" Blaise asked with a pout. He could vividly remember Hermione not speaking to him for days, and at the time he'd been totally miffed as he'd always thought he'd gotten along great with Hermione.

"Yeah." Hermione nodded. "I was so shocked you would do that to Daphne and Draco that I refused to speak to you. I actually thought that your claims that you didn't know what you'd done wrong was just a pretence."

"So why did you start speaking to him again?" Daphne asked.

"Actually, that was down to Draco," Hermione answered. "He asked me to get over whatever was bothering me about Blaise. I felt bad for snubbing his best friend, so I decided to pretend the entire incident had never happened. And since Blaise never mentioned it, I assumed he was doing the same thing."

"When really Draco was just covering his own backside," Blaise remarked, glaring at his friend. "You knew all along why Hermione wasn't speaking to me."

"I had a fair idea," Draco admitted. "But without confessing the entire thing, it took time to fix. I had to get the pair of you to forget things and move on without ever talking about it, which was actually quite hard to do."

"I cannot believe the pair of you did that," Daphne tutted. "No wonder Alex and Scorpius have such wild ideas. Let's hope they don't follow in your footsteps anymore and that they keep their noses clean for the rest of term."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Blaise said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

For once Blaise was right and the boys didn't get into any more trouble before Christmas break. However that didn't stop Scorpius and Alex from getting up to mischief, they were just a lot more careful about getting caught out.


	24. Caught

**Caught.**

"I really don't think this is a good idea," Hermione muttered as her husband tugged her into his study.

"Why not?" Draco asked, firmly shutting the door behind them. "It's our house, and it's our wedding anniversary."

"Yes, but all our friends and family are here," Hermione argued. "Someone will miss us."

"They're all having a good time, no-one will even notice we've gone," Draco retorted as he pulled Hermione over to his desk and settled down in his chair. "Besides, it's been a long time since we've snuck off for a bit of fun during a party."

"We snuck off last year at Blaise's birthday bash," Hermione replied as she leant against her husband's desk.

"Oh yeah." Draco grinned as he remembered sneaking off with Hermione to make use of the new garden swing his best friend had just had installed. "But you don't want to go back to the party, just yet. Do you?" He asked, looking up at Hermione as he slid his hand over her thigh.

"I'm sure we can spare a few minutes," Hermione said with a smile.

"Excellent," Draco replied, pulling Hermione onto his lap and connecting their lips.

Hungrily kissing each other, Draco's hand slid under Hermione's dress and snuck up towards her silk underwear. With one pull, Draco dislodged the underwear and yanked them down his wife's legs. Tutting at the fact her husband had ruined yet another pair of knickers, Hermione unzipped Draco's trousers and freed his manhood. Effortlessly the couple adjusted their positions, so that Draco was buried deep inside Hermione, her long dress obscuring just how intimately they were joined.

"I could stay like this forever," Draco muttered, peppering kisses up the side of Hermione's neck.

"It would get awkward," Hermione said, her laugh turning into a moan as Draco ran his hands over her still covered breasts.

"True," Draco agreed, reaching behind Hermione and flicking open the ties to her dress. Since Hermione was wearing a halter neck dress, the action exposed her full breasts to his eager grey eyes. "Not to mention staying like this means a lack of fulfilment."

Hermione's response was lost in a heated moan as Draco's tongue flicked over her nipples. Threading her hand through Draco's soft hair, Hermione threw her head back in ecstasy as her husband buried his head at her chest. Lost in each other's embrace the couple failed to hear the door to the study open, but they did hear the shocked gasps and cries of their friends and family.

"Shit," Draco swore, looking up and finding everyone standing in the doorway, his mother holding a cake.

"Surprise," Theo called with an amused smirk.

"What on earth are you all doing?" Draco demanded as Hermione hurriedly fixed her dress to cover her breasts.

"It's time for cake," Narcissa said quietly. "We thought we would surprise you."

"You did that," Draco muttered as a few people snickered at the embarrassed couple.

"Maybe we should go back to the dining room," Ginny suggested. "Draco and Hermione can join us when they're finished."

"That sounds like a splendid idea," Lucius said, working hard not to show how amusing he found the situation.

Hermione turned back to Draco and buried her head in his chest as she heard their friends and family turn away from the study. Even now, she could hear the laughing and wisecracks and she knew that they would never live this down. Everyone would always talk about the time they were caught shagging in the study.

"That was so embarrassing," Hermione muttered as she finally raised her head.

"You have no idea," A voice from the doorway said.

Turning around in horror, Hermione found herself looking into the unimpressed eyes of her seventeen year old son. Lyra was standing beside Scorpius, and she looked equally as disgusted as her older brother.

"How long have you two been there?" Draco asked. He hadn't spotted his children when the door had first opened and he was praying they hadn't seen too much.

"Long enough to be scarred for life," Scorpius replied. "All our friends saw you like that, it's so embarrassing. Can you not behave like normal parents, just once?"

"To be fair, we are in my private study," Draco argued. "We didn't ask for everyone to barge in on us."

"It wouldn't be an issue if you weren't carrying on like randy teenagers when you've got a house full of guests," Lyra pointed out.

"Couldn't you have waited until next week?" Scorpius asked. "Lyra and I go back to school then, and you'd have the house to yourselves. But no, you had to do this tonight, in front of everyone."

"We're sorry," Hermione said, jumping in before Draco tried to defend their actions some more. "We had no idea we would be disturbed."

"Next time, think before you act," Lyra scolded before she and Scorpius turned and stalked away.

"Why do I feel like a child whose been scolded?" Draco asked.

"Because we have just been scolded, only it was by our children, not our parents," Hermione replied. "I suppose we better go and face the music."

"I guess so," Draco said, letting out a disappointed groan as Hermione finally got off his lap.

Fixing their clothes, the couple took a few minutes to prepare themselves, before returning to the party. Of course their actions were the source of much amusement amongst their friends, and Draco and Hermione spent the rest of the evening having to listen to jokes and innuendoes at their expense. Next time they would have to lock the door before sneaking off to have a bit of fun at a party.


	25. Protective Big Brother

**A/N – I just want to quickly mention the changing of rating for this story. It's now an M rated story, due to a review which I felt had a veiled threat to report the story.**

 **The review also complained about how light-hearted the sexual content was in this story (and apparently all my stories). I just want to say that I have no intention on changing how I portray the relationship between Hermione and Draco. In stories like these where things are light-hearted and Draco and Hermione are in a loving, committed relationship, the sexual elements of the story will be light hearted as they're a solid couple and sex would be treated as something fun in their eyes. I have other stories where there's either no sex, or a brief mention, and stories where sex is taken more seriously – therefore not all my stories have the same laidback attitude to sex.**

 **I appreciate not everyone likes the same things, but the solution is very simple. If you don't like what you read, don't read it. No-one forces you to read anything here on fanfiction, and personally I would rather that people just didn't ready my stories if they have such issues with them.**

* * *

 **Protective Big Brother.**

Finally Scorpius and Alex reached the end of their detention with the Transfiguration Professor. In the two seventh years opinions they didn't deserve detention, but the Transfiguration Professor thought otherwise. Apparently giving the other students pigs' snouts wasn't appropriate behaviour for seventh years.

"Finally, I thought the old bag was never going to let us go," Alex exclaimed with relief as the boys bolted from the dingy classroom.

"I thought she was going to double the detentions when you asked what sort of animal noses would have been appropriate for seventh years," Scorpius laughed.

"She walked right into that one," Alex said with a chuckle. "She said it was inappropriate to give the seventh years pig snouts, so I merely asked what animal we should have chosen. For all I know you only give pig snouts to first years or something."

"I think the point is you don't give anyone pig snouts," Scorpius replied.

"But where's the fun in that?" Alex asked, giving his best friend a wicked grin.

Scorpius grinned back at Alex. "There's isn't any."

Still laughing about their prank earlier in the week the boys headed down the stairs to return to the dungeons. At the bottom of the main staircase they paused to look at the four hourglasses recording house points for the year. The hourglass with the emerald stones was the third fullest, behind the rubies of Gryffindor and the sapphires of Ravenclaw. As they stood there a few more emerald stones disappeared.

"I still can't get over how easy it is to lose house points in this place," Alex sighed. "You just have to look at someone the wrong way and you lose house points."

"Mum says it's a gift," Scorpius said with a chuckle as the two boys turned and headed towards the dungeons. "She reckons we've got trouble making genes."

"Dad always said he and Uncle Draco lost house points just by breathing," Alex remarked.

Chuckling in agreement, Scorpius led the way down the dungeon stairs. Halfway to the common room, Alex heard a muffled noise and stopped his best friend in his tracks.

"What is it?" Scorpius asked, looking around and not seeing anything that would warrant his best friend stopping him.

"I thought I heard something," Alex muttered. "Just keep quiet for a minute."

The boys stood in silence for almost a minute before they heard a feminine giggle. Having made their fair share of girls giggle both Alex and Scorpius knew what the sound meant. Somewhere close by, either in one of the empty classrooms or a hidden alcove, a couple were getting frisky.

"I wonder who it is," Alex whispered.

"It has to be a Slytherin," Scorpius replied. "No-one but a Slytherin would mess around down in the dungeons."

Still not sure where exactly the noise had come from the two boys carried on down the corridor. They hadn't stepped more than two paces when they heard the laugh again, and this time they were fairly sure it was coming from the alcove they were just about to pass.

"Should we tell them to move it along?" Alex asked.

"Nah," Scorpius replied with a shake of his head. "Let them have their fun."

A moment later, Scorpius changed his mind as the pair passed the alcove and neither boy could resist having a peak to see if they recognised the couple having a bit of fun. Unfortunately, they both immediately recognised the girl as being Scorpius's little sister Lyra. While they couldn't make out the boy clearly, they could clearly see Lyra leaning up against the wall as whoever she was with nuzzled at her neck. Luckily, clothing didn't seem to have been disturbed and the pair looked to be just having a quick snog.

Snapping out of his daze, Scorpius cleared his throat to get Lyra's attention. Immediately Lyra's head snapped to the side, but instead of looking worried, she merely looked annoyed to see her brother standing there. However the boy she was with had paled significantly and both Scorpius and Alex could see he was visibly shaking at the sight of Scorpius.

"What are you doing, Scorp?" Lyra hissed.

"I was going to ask you the same question, but the answer is fairly obvious," Scorpius replied. "Both of you come out of that alcove, immediately."

While the boy Lyra was with rushed out into the corridor, Lyra strolled out at a more mundane pace.

"You're not Dad, Scorp, so stop acting like it."

"Someone has to look out for you," Scorpius snapped before turning to the boy who'd been kissing his sister. "What's your name?"

"Brian," The boy answered.

"And what are your intentions towards my little sister?" Scorpius demanded. "You are aware she's just fifteen, aren't you?"

"Scorp, back off," Lyra said, stepping in between her brother and Brian. "We were just kissing. I'm sure at fifteen you were doing more than kissing."

"She's got you there mate," Alex laughed from behind Scorpius.

"What I was doing at fifteen is irrelevant," Scorpius said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You," He said, pointing at a worried looking Brian. "Keep your hands off my little sister. If I catch you in an alcove with her again, I'll make you regret it. Do you understand?"

"Yes Sir," Brian stuttered out, before turning and fleeing back towards the stairs.

"Bloody wuss," Lyra muttered in disgust as Brian rushed off, presumably back to Ravenclaw Tower. Regaining her sense of fury she turned to her brother, eyes blazing angrily. "How dare you. My love life is none of your concern. Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to even get a date with you as my big brother? They're all bloody scared of you, and what you'd do to any boy I dated."

"As they should be," Scorpius said, grinning proudly at his reputation as a protective big brother. "You're better off without that little weed anyway."

"Git," Lyra seethed at her brother. "I can't wait for you to leave school."

"Well that's not for another five months, so you'll have to remain single until then," Scorpius said with a smirk. "And even after I've left school, I'll be keeping an eye on you. I don't want the wrong sort of boy getting ideas about my sister."

"Git," Lyra repeated as she turned on her heel and stalked back to the common room.

Scorpius and Alex followed Lyra back to the common room, all the time discussing the boy Lyra had been kissing. They both agreed that he wasn't right for Lyra, but for very different reasons. Scorpius was being the protective big brother and thought no boy was good enough for his little sister, while Alex was dealing with the fact he'd been strangely jealous when he'd seen Lyra with another boy.

Alex had never thought of Lyra as anything other than Scorpius's little sister, but now he was seeing her as a beautiful girl. He knew if anything was ever going to happen he had to deal with Scorpius, and that wasn't going to be easy. However, he also knew nothing would happen in the near future. Lyra was still too young for a serious relationship, and he had no idea if she even liked him. If anything was going to happen it would be in the future, and it would be his future self that would have to deal with her big brother.


	26. Lingerie

**Lingerie.**

After spending the afternoon, lying on the beach soaking up the sun as she read her newest book, sixteen year old Lyra headed back to the villa the Malfoys and Zabinis were staying in. The two families had come away to an expensive part of wizarding Italy as a treat for Scorpius and Alex finishing school. Despite their trouble making ways, both boys had passed their exams with flying colours and their parents had wanted them to have a week of fun in the warm Mediterranean sun.

When Lyra arrived back at the villa she was surprised to find Scorpius and Alex lounging around beside the pool. Lyra hadn't been expecting them as the two boys had headed into the nearby town earlier that morning and they'd given the impression they wouldn't be back until late. She had been hoping to have a bit more peace and quiet back at the villa as when she headed down to the beach after lunch her parents and the Zabinis were heading out for the afternoon.

"How long have you two been back?" Lyra questioned.

"A while," Scorpius replied. "Where is everyone?"

"Mum and Dad said they were heading to some sort of museum," Lyra replied. "And Blaise and Daphne mentioned going shopping."

"That sounds like Mum and Dad," Alex laughed. "I can't believe Mum found someone who loves to shop almost as much as she does."

"I don't get that one," Scorpius said. "Shopping is boring. Although come to think of it, so is going to museums and art galleries, and my parents are always doing stuff like that."

"I'd rather they went to museums and art galleries than stay here and act like randy teenagers," Lyra remarked. "You know I caught them planning to skinny dip this morning. Luckily, I turned up before they could strip off."

"Don't tell us stuff like that Lyra," Scorpius complained. "I don't want to think about our parent's sex lives."

"As if I do," Lyra muttered as she headed into the villa.

Lyra was halfway through the front room when she spotted a flash of green material on the white sofa. Curious, she made her way over to the sofa and frowned at what she saw. Lying stuffed half behind a cushion was a very skimpy bra. Lyra picked the bra up between two fingers and shook her head at the sight. The bra was so skimpy and revealing, it wouldn't cover someone's modesty. Chances are if someone was wearing it, you'd be able to see all they had to offer.

Still holding the bra, Lyra turned round and stormed back out onto the back patio. The bra wasn't there when she'd gone down to the beach, meaning either Scorpius or Alex had brought a guest back from the town with them.

"Which one of you was it?" Lyra demanded, waving the bra in front of the two eighteen year olds.

"What the hell. Why are you waving a bra in our faces?" Scorpius asked his sister with a frown.

"Which one of you brought a tart home from the village?" Lyra asked. "You were warned about bringing girls back to the villa."

"We didn't bring any girls back to the villa," Scorpius replied.

"Then how do you explain this?" Lyra questioned, continuing to wave the bra around.

Sitting up Alex grabbed the bra from Lyra's hand and had a good look at the skimpy material. "This is a nice bra. It's very flimsy, and it'll show everything. I love bras like that."

"So it was you," Lyra said, glaring at Alex. For some reason she didn't like the thought of Alex bringing random girls back to the villa.

"I wish," Alex replied, throwing the bra to Scorpius. "I haven't seen that bra before, either on or off a witch."

"Neither have I," Scorpius said. "But I agree with Alex, it's a good bra."

"So if neither of you brought a girl home, who does the bra belong to?" Lyra asked.

It only took a moment for the answer to become clear and both Scorpius and Alex shot up and backed away from the offending material. There was only two other possibilities as to where the bra had come from.

"Please don't let it be Mum's," Alex muttered, trying not to think about how much he liked the bra.

"The bra is green, and she is a former Slytherin," Scorpius pointed out. "It's more than likely Daphne's bra."

"Your father is a former Slytherin, and we all know Hermione likes to wear green. It has every chance to be your Mum's bra," Alex retorted.

"Lyra, get rid of the bra please," Scorpius said, not wanting to touch it again in case it did belong to his mother.

"Maybe I should ask who it belongs to," Lyra said as she plucked the bra up from where it had been discarded.

"Don't," Alex and Scorpius cried together.

"Just put it back where you found it, and we'll pretend like we haven't seen it," Scorpius told his sister.

Lyra shrugged and went into the villa to return the bra to the sofa where she'd found it. Even though the bra was out of sight it didn't stop the boys wondering about it, so they moved into the front room to see if either of their mothers claimed the bra when they returned back from their afternoon out.

Daphne and Blaise were the first to return, and neither of them mentioned the half hidden bra as they spoke to the three teenagers. The couple were in the room for almost fifteen minutes, before they headed off to put their shopping bags in the room, and neither of them once glanced in the direction of the forgotten bra. With his parents having gone off without claiming the bra, a smug Alex sat back to enjoy the show when Draco and Hermione arrived home.

When Draco and Hermione did arrive back at the villa, they didn't immediately pounce on the bra. However, as they were asking the teenagers if they'd had a good day, Hermione suddenly caught sight of the green material. Her shocked expression was enough to alert the three teenagers to the fact the bra was most likely hers. Unfortunately the look was enough to alert Draco to the fact his wife had spotted the bra.

"Hey, Hermione, it's your bra," Draco said, yanking the material out from underneath the cushion and dangling it in front of his wife.

"Thank you, I can see that," Hermione muttered, pulling the bra off her husband and stuffing it in her bag.

"I wonder if that means your knickers are around here somewhere," Draco mused, looking under a few more cushions. "We couldn't find them either, could we."

"You two are impossible," Scorpius groaned as Alex chuckled beside him. "Can't you act like grown-ups?"

"Yeah, it's embarrassing that you've lost your underwear at your age," Lyra added.

"It's not lost, it's merely misplaced," Hermione argued.

"It's not misplaced either," Draco called. From underneath the sofa, he pulled out a tiny thong that matched the bra. "Found them."

"This is priceless," Alex laughed as both Scorpius and Lyra buried their heads in their hands through sheer embarrassment.

"Sorry kids," Hermione said as she took hold of Draco's hand and pulled him towards the stairs. "We didn't mean to embarrass you."

"You never do, but yet you're so good at it," Scorpius muttered as his parents headed off upstairs.

Lyra waited until her parents had time to be safely ensconced in their room, before she also headed off to her room. She was wishing she'd just left the bra alone when she'd first seen it. That way she would have been in her room when her parents returned, and she would never have known that sometime over the course of the afternoon her parents had been getting frisky in the front room and her mother had misplaced her underwear. Some things, she just didn't need to know, and what had just happened was one of those things.


	27. Surprising Delivery

**Surprising Delivery.**

Scorpius had been working alongside his father in the family business for nearly two months, and so far he was loving every second of it. Draco had arranged for him to have an office right next door to his, and he'd taken the time to personally teach him about different aspects of the business. Scorpius knew it would be a while before he took over the reins of the family firm, but for now he was content to work alongside his father. He wanted to know everything there was to know about the business before he took over, and Draco was the perfect person to learn from.

"I've got to go and take a meeting," Draco said to his son, poking his head through the door that connected their two offices. "I've got a stack of boxes in my office containing new potions supplies. I want you to come and check through them and make sure nothing's missing. Once you're sure everything's there, send for one of the guys in the potions department to come up and get them."

"I'll be there in five minutes or so," Scorpius replied. "I just need to finish up the time sheets for last week."

"There's no rush," Draco said, smiling at his son's conscientious attitude towards his work. "Just get to them once you've finished here."

Nodding in agreement, Scorpius continued on with his work as his father disappeared back into his office. Five minutes later, Scorpius had finished his work. Carefully filing it in the right place, he made sure there was nothing else that was urgent on his desk before entering his father's office.

When Scorpius entered Draco's office, he groaned at the sight of all the boxes stacked up beside his father's desk. A quick count revealed five large boxes, three medium sized boxes and one small box sitting on the top of the pile. Finding the box with the invoice attached, Scorpius opened it up and grabbed a highlighter from his father's desk. Settling down he began to sort out the boxes, starting with the one that he'd gotten the invoice off.

Finishing the first box, Scorpius carefully set it aside before grabbing another box, this time going for the small box on the top. When Scorpius opened the box, he frowned as he realised whatever was inside wasn't potions supplies. Rummaging through the packaging, he frown deepened when his fingers brushed against silk.

"What the hell?" Scorpius muttered.

Putting the box on the floor, he pulled out all the packaging that surrounded whatever was in the box. With the packaging gone, Scorpius could clearly see into the box and he really wished he hadn't bothered to investigate. Sitting at the bottom of the box was a very skimpy green and black lingerie set. Alongside the lingerie set was a pair of emerald green fluffy handcuffs, a green silk blindfold, two bottles of massage oil and three tubs of assorted body paint.

Normally Scorpius would have investigated the package further, but not when he knew it was for his mother. Hermione's birthday was less than a week away, and Scorpius suspected he was looking at his father's present for her. Over the years he'd seen and heard much more than he should have, but he really didn't want to imagine Hermione in the skimpy underwear that was in the box. Shuddering at the fun his parent's would have with the box, he quickly replaced the packaging and put the box on Draco's desk.

"Randy old goats," He muttered, turning back to his inventory.

Keeping his attention on the inventory proved easier said than done, but with a lot of effort Scorpius managed to forget about the box on his father's desk and continue on with the task he'd been set. Once he was finished, he sent for one of the wizards from the potions department and had the boxes shipped down to the labs. Just as the last box was leaving his office, Draco arrived back.

"Was it all there?" Draco checked. They'd recently changed supplier and he was hoping they wouldn't have any teething problems with the new company they were working with.

"It's all in order," Scorpius replied.

"You've forgotten a box," Draco remarked, suddenly spotting the box on his desk.

"That isn't potions supplies," Scorpius muttered in response. "I think that's Mum's birthday gift."

"Excellent," Draco beamed, walking over to his desk.

Before Scorpius could stop him, Draco had opened the box up and pulled out the packaging. Nodding happily, he lifted the underwear out of the box to examine it closer. When Scorpius spotted the knickers were a thong, he closed his eyes and shook his head to dispel the disturbing images that had been implanted there.

"Oh, drat," Draco murmured. "They've sold out of the cherry body paint. It's your mother's favourite."

"Too much information, Dad," Scorpius grimaced. "And next time, can you not have stuff like that delivered to the house. I really didn't need to see what you were getting for Mum."

"If I get it delivered to home, your mother might see," Draco argued. "I always get my shopping delivered here, it's safer."

"Remind me to always check the sender's label before opening any more boxes," Scorpius said, breathing a sigh of relief when Draco put everything back in the box and closed it again. "I really don't need to know about my parent's kinky sex life."

"Our sex life is not kinky," Draco protested.

"Handcuffs, blindfolds and body paint borders on the kinky," Scorpius retorted.

"That's just a regular night for us," Draco chuckled, winking at his son and laughing even more when Scorpius audibly groaned.

"Please stop," Scorpius begged.

"Okay, just don't tell your mother what I've gotten her for her birthday," Draco said.

"Please, I'm not going to tell anyone what I've just seen," Scorpius replied. "I'm going to go back to work and try to forget the entire incident. And when it's Mum's birthday, I'm going to try and pretend not to know what you got her."

Draco merely laughed in response as Scorpius bolted out of his office and settled himself in the safety of his own office. For the rest of the day, Scorpius tried to put the box out of his mind and by the time he went home he'd almost forgotten he'd seen anything. Although he never again just blindly opened a box addressed to his father. He always checked the sender before opening the box and the times he found an address that wasn't a business supplier he steered well clear of the package. With his parents, who knew what else he would find, and Scorpius didn't want any more unexpected surprises.

* * *

 **A/N – I know this chapter has a similar theme as the last chapter, but it's just the way they slotted together chronologically. Anyway, we're into the final couple of snippets now and then this little collection will be complete. Thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoy the final few snapshots of this universe.**


	28. Heartbreak

**Heartbreak.**

"Hello," Scorpius cried as he alighted from the floo network in his parent's front room, carrying a small overnight bag. "Is there anyone here?"

Even though he'd left home and had a flat of his own, he still visited home regularly. In fact he'd actually came home to spend Christmas with his family. It was Christmas Eve the following day and Scorpius would be staying with his family until after Boxing Day. Although Scorpius wasn't planning on spending New Year with his family, he and Alex already had plans to see in the New Year in style.

Not finding any sign of his parents and sister on the ground floor of the house, Scorpius grabbed his bag and headed off upstairs. Dumping his bag in his bedroom, Scorpius wondered what to do next. He'd been hoping to find Lyra as he still had presents to buy and he wanted his sister's advice. He'd already sorted presents for most people, but he had no idea what to get Hermione and Narcissa.

Figuring he had to do his Christmas shopping by himself, Scorpius stuck his wallet into his trousers and headed out of his bedroom. As he walked past his sister's room, he heard a noise from inside and paused. It might just have been her cat he'd heard, but just in case he knocked on her door.

"Lyra?" He called.

"Go away."

Scorpius frowned at the sound of his sister's voice. Even though she'd told him to go away, he could tell she wasn't mad. In fact it sounded as though she was crying, or had at least been crying.

"Lyra, open the door," Scorpius ordered. "I'm not going anywhere until you open the door."

"No, go away," Lyra repeated.

"If you don't open the door, I'll climb the tree outside of your window," Scorpius warned.

Within minutes of his threat, the door was flung open and Scorpius found himself standing in front of his sister. Her eyes were red as though she'd been crying, but at the minute she was glaring at her brother. No doubt she was annoyed that she'd had to open the door as Scorpius knew she would be aware that he wasn't bluffing about climbing the tree. If she hadn't opened the door, he really would have climbed the tree to gain access to his sister's room.

"What do you want, Scorp?" Lyra asked as she turned round and slunk back to her bed.

"What's wrong?" Scorpius asked, following his sister into her room and closing the door behind him.

"Nothing," Lyra replied.

"You've been crying," Scorpius said. "I want to know why."

"It's not important," Lyra said with a shrug as she settled back on her bed.

"You're my little sister and I say it is important," Scorpius insisted, perching on the side of his sister's bed. "You might as well tell me, or I'll keep bugging you. I'll stay here until you go back to school, I mean it."

Lyra narrowed her eyes, knowing that her brother was stubborn enough to keep bugging her until she confided in him. With a sigh she reached for the letter on her nightstand and wordlessly handed it to her brother. She'd received the letter that morning, hence the reason she'd been hidden away in her room all morning.

Scorpius took the short letter from his sister and read it with narrowed eyes. The letter was basically a short note, and he was annoyed to find the note was basically some boy dumping his little sister. The fact he hadn't even had the guts to break Lyra's heart in person infuriated Scorpius, and he was already wondering when he could visit Hogsmeade and give the little git a piece of his mind.

"Who is this little upstart?" Scorpius asked, handing the letter back to his sister.

"Just a boy I've been seeing," Lyra replied with a sigh.

"A boy who doesn't even have the decency to break up with you to your face," Scorpius muttered in disgust. "Do you know why he dumped you by letter?"

"I don't know why he didn't do it in person, but I have an idea why he ended things," Lyra confessed.

"Well?" Scorpius probed when his sister didn't elaborate further.

"Sex," Lyra said.

"You need to tell me a bit more," Scorpius said gently. "Sex isn't a real answer."

"He wanted it, I wasn't ready," Lyra explained simply.

"So he dumped you," Scorpius spat, shaking his head. "Bastard."

"I'm inclined to agree," Lyra said.

"Seriously Lyra, he's not worth it," Scorpius said. "You deserve better than some scumbag with no backbone. If he wouldn't wait, then he wasn't the one for you."

"I know," Lyra admitted. "But it still hurts. I really liked him, and I thought he was special."

"He's not special enough," Scorpius said. "I doubt anyone is special enough for you."

"You would say that," Lyra said with a small laugh. "You're being overprotective again."

"I'm your big brother, it's my duty to be overprotective," Scorpius replied with a grin. "If you want I can come up to Hogsmeade in the New Year and teach the toad some manners."

"That won't be necessary," Lyra said. "But I appreciate the offer."

"You need to forget about him Lyra," Scorpius urged his sister. Even though she wasn't crying, he could see the tears in her eyes and knew it wouldn't take much for her to be sobbing again.

"I'll try," Lyra said quietly. "But I thought he was the one, Scorp."

"You're eighteen, you've got all your life to find the one," Scorpius retorted.

"I guess I just wanted to be lucky, like Mum and Dad," Lyra admitted with a wistful sigh. "They fell in love at school, and they've been so happy together. I just want what they have."

"You'll get it," Scorpius promised, offering his sister a warm smile. "It just doesn't necessarily have to happen in school. One day you'll meet a really great guy, and be ecstatically happy."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise," Scorpius replied seriously. "One day, you'll not even be able to remember this bloke's name. He'll just be an unpleasant memory."

"He will," Lyra vowed as she suddenly got off the bed. "And I won't waste one more tear on him."

Marching into her adjoining bathroom, Lyra washed her face and tidied herself up. When she returned to the bedroom, she picked up the letter, tore it into little pieces and threw it in the bin.

"That's my girl," Scorpius grinned. "Now I have a favour to ask."

"I should have known you had an ulterior motive," Lyra said with a dramatic groan. "So what do you want Scorp?"

"I need help with my Christmas presents," Scorpius confessed. "I need you to come shopping with me. I still need to buy presents for Mum and Gran."

"Scorp, it's Christmas Eve tomorrow," Lyra scolded. "I can't believe you've left things to the last minute."

"I have shopped for some people," Scorpius argued. "I'm only struggling with Mum and Gran."

Grabbing her bag, Lyra swung it over her shoulder. "Come on then, let's go shopping. Although, I will expect payment for my help."

"I'm sure we can come to some arrangement," Scorpius said as he followed his sister out of her bedroom.

Heading to Diagon Alley the siblings completed Scorpius's shopping, and by the time they returned home no more mention was made of Lyra's heartbreak. Although unbeknown to either of them it was the last time Lyra would have a broken heart. In a few months' time, she would get involved with someone who would go on to become the love of her life.


	29. Romance Blossoms

**Romance Blossoms.**

To celebrate Lyra finishing Hogwarts, Draco and Hermione arranged to throw a big party for their youngest child. As well as getting Lyra to invite all her friends from school, they made sure invites went to their family friends and the rest of the family.

On the day of the party, Blaise and Daphne arrived at the Malfoys to help prepare for the party. Scorpius and Alex also showed up to help, and soon everything was in hand. Leaving the men to decorate the back garden, Hermione and Daphne sorted the food and drink before heading off to make sure Lyra wasn't having any clothing emergencies.

"Scorp, can I ask you something?" Alex asked as the two boys hung the remainder of the enchanted lanterns on the trees in the large back garden.

"Sure," Scorpius replied.

"How would you feel if I asked your sister out?" Alex asked, shooting the words out as quickly as he could.

Stopping in his tracks, Scorpius turned to his best friend in confusion. "Did I just hear you right?"

"It depends. What did you hear?"

"You want to ask Lyra out," Scorpius said in disbelief.

"I do," Alex confirmed. "But you're my best friend, and I don't want to do anything to jeopardise our friendship."

"But my sister?" Scorpius frowned, Alex's request still sinking in. "She's my sister."

"I know who she is, Scorp," Alex said, trying not to laugh at his friend. He doubted laughter would help Scorpius come to terms with the fact that his best friend fancied his little sister.

"Do you fancy her?" Scorpius questioned.

"Obviously," Alex replied, unable to stop himself from rolling his eyes at his blond friend. "That's why I want to ask her out."

"How long have you fancied her?" Scorpius asked.

"A while," Alex said with a shrug of his shoulder. "But I wanted to wait until she left school before asking her out."

"But she's my baby sister," Scorpius protested. "You've known her forever."

"Is that a problem?" Alex asked. "Surely it means I'm less likely to hurt her. You may be my best friend Scorp, but I also consider Lyra a friend as well."

"This is so odd," Scorpius muttered, dropping into a nearby seat and abandoning the lanterns they hadn't yet put up. "My best friend and my sister."

"If it's a problem, I won't ask her out," Alex offered.

"But you want to, and I can't stand in the way of your happiness," Scorpius said with a sigh. "The idea of you two together is just weird. It'll take some getting used to, I guess."

"She might not say yes," Alex pointed out, sitting down in the chair beside his friend. "I could ask her and she could turn me down."

"As if that's going to happen," Scorpius snorted. "No girl has ever turned you down."

"Your sister is hardly the sort of girl to fall at my feet," Alex argued. "If anyone's going to turn me down, it'll be Lyra."

"I guess I give you my permission to ask her out," Scorpius said.

"Thanks mate," Alex replied with a large grin.

"What's going on here?" Draco called as he and Blaise wandered over to their sons. "Why have you stopped decorating, you've nearly finished."

"We'll get right onto it," Alex said, jumping to his feet and grabbing another lantern.

"So what was the delay about?" Blaise asked as Scorpius also got up and returned to hanging the lanterns. "It looked as though the pair of you were having a deep conversation."

"Alex was just asking my permission to ask Lyra out," Scorpius replied without thinking.

"He what?" Draco gasped.

Scorpius winced at his father's shocked expression. "Sorry mate," He offered to a worried looking Alex.

"Nice one, Scorp," Blaise chuckled.

"Is he serious, Alex?" Draco asked, focusing his attention on his godson.

"Yes," Alex admitted. "I guess I should ask your permission as well."

"She is my daughter, so that might be an idea," Draco replied in a serious tone.

Hanging the last of the lanterns, Alex turned to Draco as he prepared to face the father of the girl he wished to date. Despite knowing Draco all his life and thinking of him as family, he was wary of the blond wizard's reaction to his request. Draco was notoriously protective of his family, especially his daughter, and Alex couldn't help but be worried in case he didn't think he was good enough for Lyra.

"So," Draco began. "You want to ask Lyra out."

"I do," Alex confirmed with a nod. "Of course, I wouldn't dream of doing so if you had a problem with that."

"You are two years older than her," Draco pointed out. "Not to mention much more experienced."

"I would never push Lyra into doing anything she wasn't ready for," Alex reassured Draco. "I have the upmost respect for your daughter, and all I want is the chance to make her happy."

"I can't ask for more than that I suppose," Draco replied with a smile. "You can ask her out Alex. But just so you know, if you hurt her, you'll regret it. You may be my godson, and are like family to us, but I won't stand for anyone hurting my little girl."

"I swear I won't hurt her, Draco," Alex vowed.

"Although she does have to say yes," Blaise pointed out. "All this talk could be in vain if she turns him down."

"Since when have witches turned down the Zabini men?" Draco asked with a laugh. "No witch turned you down Blaise, and Alex is every bit as charming as you. I'm sure Lyra will say yes."

"Let's hope so," Alex muttered, his nerves kicking in now he had permission to ask Lyra out.

"Come on, let's go and get ready for tonight," Scorpius said.

Heading back into the house, the men set about getting ready for the party. Draco confided in Hermione what Alex was going to do, while Blaise told Daphne of their son's plans. With both sets of parents, and Scorpius, aware of what was going to happen, all eyes were on Alex and Lyra when the party got underway a few hours later. Alex was fully aware of the attention, whereas Lyra was oblivious to what was going to happen. She was just happily enjoying the evening.

"Hey Lyra," Alex said, offering the younger witch a smile as he approached her.

"Hi," Lyra replied. "Are you enjoying the party?"

"I am," Alex said. "So, do you have plans now you've left school?"

"I'm going to train to be a Medi-Vet," Lyra replied. Even though she'd had that ambition for years, it was all she really wanted to do.

"That's great," Alex said with a smile.

"And how's your career going?" Lyra asked. Alex had signed for a professional quidditch team upon leaving school two years ago, and he'd recently broken into the first team. "Is the fame going to your head?"

"I'm coping," Alex answered. "Although the wages are pretty good, meaning I can afford to go to the best restaurants. Maybe you'd fancy having dinner with me one evening."

"Are you asking me on a date, Alex?" Lyra questioned, gaping at her brother's gorgeous best friend. She'd long thought Alex was gorgeous, but she thought he just saw her as a younger sister.

"I am. So what do you say, will you go out with me?"

Lyra's face broke into a large grin as she nodded her head. "I'd love to."

Thrilled with the answer, Alex leant down and pressed his lips against Lyra's. What had been a spur of the moment kiss took a deeper turn as Lyra wrapped her arms around Alex and heartily kissed him back. From across the room, their parents chuckled at their children's behaviour. They'd all been confident that Lyra would accept Alex's request for a date, but they hadn't expected the pair of them to start kissing in the middle of the party.

"What do you think?" Draco asked his wife as they watched the young couple. "The real thing?"

"Quite possibly," Hermione replied. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."


	30. New Beginnings

**New Beginnings.**

Moving as slowly as she could, Hermione got ready for the evening ahead. They were due to attend Lyra and Alex's engagement/house warming party. The pair had been together for two years, and the engagement and moving in together hadn't exactly came out of the blue. However, it did have Hermione in a slightly maudlin mood. With Lyra moving in with Alex and Scorpius having already moved out, it was hitting her that both her children had flown the nest.

"Are you ready yet?" Draco called, entering the bedroom.

"Yeah," Hermione replied with a sigh as she picked up her bag.

"Don't sound so maudlin, we're going to a party not a funeral," Draco said.

"I know, but we're celebrating our little girl leaving home," Hermione argued. "Forgive me if I don't find it an altogether happy event."

"We're also celebrating her engagement," Draco pointed out. "And you know how happy Alex makes her."

"I know, I should make the effort," Hermione admitted. "And I am happy for her, really I am. I just can't help but think about how things are changing. First Scorpius left home, and now Lyra. My babies are grown up and they don't need me anymore."

"That's not true," Draco soothed. "They may have both grown up, but Scorpius and Lyra still need you. They just need us in different ways these days."

Conceding that Draco had a point, Hermione brushed aside her sad feelings and plastered a smile on her face. She wasn't going to let Lyra down and show her how sad she was that she'd moved out. Her daughter was celebrating one of the happiest moments in her life, and she intended to be by her side celebrating with her.

Arriving at the house Alex and Lyra had just bought, Hermione and Draco were greeted to a party already in full swing. Friends and family were dotted around the house and it took them almost ten minutes to find Alex and Lyra in the back garden with Scorpius and a few of their other friends.

"I thought you weren't coming," Lyra said, giving both Hermione and Draco a hug.

"We wouldn't miss this for the world," Hermione reassured her daughter.

"I'm pleased you're both here," Lyra said with a smile. "Help yourself to food and drink in the kitchen."

"Are your parents here, Alex?" Draco asked. So far they hadn't seen Daphne or Blaise, but he suspected they were around somewhere.

"They're around somewhere," Alex replied. "Hopefully they're not upstairs in our bedroom."

"Don't worry, I placed a charm on the room barring anyone entry," Lyra told her boyfriend as her parents laughed at the thought of Blaise and Daphne using their bedroom. "No-one but us will be fooling around in our bedroom."

"And that's our cue to leave," Draco said with a grimace. As much as he approved of Lyra and Alex, he hated to hear any allusion to their private life. Lyra was still his little girl, and he didn't need to think about the fact she was no longer an innocent virgin.

Making their way back inside the house, Draco and Hermione grabbed a couple of drinks and set off to find their friends. After a few minutes they found their entire group of friends sitting in the room that was in the process of being turned into Lyra's library.

"There you are," Theo called as the Malfoys joined the group. "We thought you'd decided to stay home and make the most of your empty house."

"We can do that later on," Draco replied flippantly, although he glanced over at Hermione in case the mention of their empty house had upset her again. Luckily she seemed fine now they were at the party and she merely chuckled at Theo.

"So what do you think of the house?" Hermione asked her friends. Apart from Blaise and Daphne, none of their other friends had seen the house that Lyra and Alex had recently bought.

"It's beautiful," Ginny answered.

"I bet it was expensive," Lavender added.

"I have no idea," Hermione said with a shrug. "Alex and Lyra didn't divulge what they paid."

"It's not as if they can't afford it, is it?" Ron chuckled. "They both have substantial inheritances, Alex is a top quidditch player and Lyra's well on her way to owing her own Medi-Vet practice."

"Is Lyra thinking of opening her own Medi-Vet practice?" Pansy asked.

"Yeah," Draco replied. "It's definitely something she wants to do."

"I'd take my pets to her," Ron said. "Rose's dog had a thorn in its paw last week, and I took it to Lyra while Rose went to work. Lyra had the thorn out in no time, and the dog's as right as rain."

"She's always been a natural with animals," Harry said with a fond smile. "I can remember some of the strays she used to bring home."

"She was still bringing strays home before she moved out," Draco said. "In the last year we've had all sorts of injured animals staying with us."

"That's one of the reasons she wants to set up her own practice," Hermione added. "She wants to create a shelter for injured and abandoned animals."

"What about kids?" Ginny asked. "Are her animals going to take priority over having children?"

"We are too young for grandchildren," Draco declared, outraged at the suggestion he could soon become a grandfather.

"You're our age, and we're going to be grandparents in a few months," Harry retorted. James and his fiancée had recently announced that they were expecting their first child.

"I'm sure grandkids are still a way off," Hermione said. "Lyra and Alex aren't even married yet."

"Aren't you forgetting Scorpius?" Pansy questioned. "He could make you a grandparent."

"He'd have to find a serious girlfriend first," Draco snorted. "He shows no sign of settling down, and he's not stupid enough to get a casual fling pregnant."

"You hope," Theo said with an evil chuckle.

Hermione and Draco briefly shared a worried look, before dismissing the thought of Scorpius getting some random witch pregnant. They were sure that one day both of their children would provide them with grandchildren, but for now they were happy to just enjoy the life they had. With both Scorpius and Lyra off living their own lives it gave them time to concentrate on each other. They could spend a few years enjoying being on their own again, before they became grandparents and the next chapter of their lives began.

 **The End.**

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 **A/N – That's it for this series of snippets. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, and of course all the people who have followed and favourited this story. The wonderful support I receive on this site from so many people is amazing, and it keeps me inspired to keep writing. Thanks again for reading, and I'll be back soon with more new stories.**


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